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President Barack Obama has attended the events celebrating the 50th anniversary of a landmark civil rights march in Selma, Alabama.
Barack Obama will deliver a speech to mark “Bloody Sunday” in March 1965, when security forces attacked demonstrators.
First Lady Michelle Obama and about 100 members of Congress are also due to attend.
Afterwards Barack and Michelle Obama will join marchers in a recreation of a walk on a bridge that was severely repressed.
Police beat and used tear gas on demonstrators at the foot of Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965.
That event, and a march from Selma to Montgomery two weeks later, helped build momentum for approval of the Voting Rights Act by Congress later that year.
The legislation, pushed by President Lyndon Johnson, removed all barriers preventing African Americans from registering as voters.
President George W. Bush – who was in office between 2001 and 2009 – is also expected to take part in the commemorations.
Georgia congressman John Lewis, a Democrat who was among those injured in the violence 50 years ago, is also attending.
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President Barack Obama has dismissed a speech by Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu that castigated his policy towards Iran.
In a speech to the US Congress, Benjamin Netanyahu warned that a deal under discussion on Iran’s nuclear program could “pave Iran’s path to the bomb” rather than block it.
Barack Obama said Benjamin Netanyahu had offered no viable alternative.
Other senior Democrats – and Iran – also criticized Benjamin Netanyahu.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit was controversial from the start, because Republican speaker John Boehner invited him without consulting the White House.
President Barack Obama announced he would not meet Benjamin Netanyahu, who is fighting in a closely contested national election in just two weeks’ time.
Talks on Iran’s nuclear program are nearing a critical late-March deadline for an outline agreement to be reached.
In a speech to the Congress regularly punctuated by standing ovations Benjamin Netanyahu depicted Iran as a “threat to the entire world”.
He insisted Iran had proven time and time again that it could not be trusted.
Benjamin Netanyahu went on to criticize the likely contours of the deal currently being negotiated in Switzerland, where Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met Secretary of State John Kerry on March 3.
“We’ve been told that no deal is better than a bad deal,” he said.
“Well this is a bad deal, a very bad deal, We’re better off without it.”
Benjamin Netanyahu said it relied heavily on international monitoring, when Iran “plays a pretty good game of <<hide and cheat>> with UN inspectors”.
The Israeli prime minister received a rapturous reception for his speech, but dozens of Democrats – including Vice President Joe Biden – stayed away.
House minority leader Nancy Pelosi at times refused to clap and later issued a statement saying Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech had been an “insult to the intelligence of the United States” that had left her near tears.
Barack Obama said he had been unable to watch the speech as it was given, but found “nothing new” when he read the transcript.
“The alternative that the prime minister offers is <<no deal>>, in which case Iran will immediately begin once again pursuing its nuclear program, accelerate its nuclear program without us having any insight into what they are doing and without constraint,” he said.
The president said sanctions alone were not sufficient without offering Iran an alternative path.
Other Democrats criticized the speech, with Representative John Yarmuth calling it “straight out of the Dick Cheney playbook – fear mongering at its worst”.
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign ministry said Benjamin Netanyahu’s words were “boring and repetitive”, Fars news agency reported.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said the “Iranophobic” speech was a “deceitful show and part of the election campaign of Tel Aviv’s hardliners”.
The US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China are seeking to reach agreement to curtail Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
They fear Iran has ambitions to build a nuclear bomb – something Iran denies, insisting it is merely exercising its right to peaceful nuclear power.
Negotiators are currently working towards a late-March deadline for an outline agreement with Iran, which would be followed by a detailed deal by the end of June.
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Iran must halt its nuclear program for at least a decade if it wants to strike a deal with the US, President Barack Obama has said.
However, the odds are against talks with Iran ending with an agreement, Barack Obama told Reuters.
Negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program are at a critical stage, with an outline agreement due on March 31.
Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to urge the US Congress on March 3 to oppose a deal.
He was invited to speak at the US Capitol by Republican House Speaker John Boehner, angering Democrats.
Benjamin Netanyahu – who faces domestic elections in two weeks’ time – will not meet President Barack Obama during his visit to the US.
In his interview, Barack Obama said disagreements over Iran would not be “permanently destructive” to the US-Israel relationship.
However, Benjamin Netanyahu had been wrong on Iran before when he opposed an interim nuclear agreement struck last year, Barack Obama said.
“Netanyahu made all sorts of claims – this was going to be a terrible deal, this was going to result in Iran getting $50bn worth of relief, Iran would not abide by the agreement.”
None of that has come true, the president said.
“During this period we’ve seen Iran not advance its program. In many ways, it’s rolled back elements of its program.”
The US, along with the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China, are seeking to reach agreement to curtail Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
They are trying to address concerns that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons technology, something Tehran denies.
Secretary of State John Kerry is holding talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif in Geneva, Switzerland, as part of the ongoing negotiations ahead of a March 31 deadline for a framework agreement.
The aim is then to secure a final deal by June 30.
Barack Obama said that if Iran was willing to agree to “double-digit years of keeping their program where it is right now and, in fact, rolling back elements of it that currently exist… and we’ve got a way of verifying that, there’s no other steps we can take” to ensure Iran does not have nuclear arms.
Barack Obama said that while a deal was still unlikely, it would be better than the alternatives.
“If they do agree to it, it would be far more effective in controlling their nuclear program than any military action we could take, any military action Israel could take, and far more effective than sanctions will be,” Barack Obama told Reuters.
The US goal is to make sure “there’s at least a year between us seeing them try to get a nuclear weapon and them actually being able to obtain one,” he said.
The Israelis say any agreement that leaves Iran with a workable nuclear industry, now or in the future, is too dangerous.
“I have a moral obligation to speak up in the face of these dangers while there is still time to avert them,” Benjamin Netanyahu told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference in Washington on March 2.
The leading Republican and Democrat on the House foreign relations committee have sent a letter to Barack Obama highlighting their concerns about a deal.
They said Congress must be convinced that any pathway Iran might have to developing a nuclear weapon is shut off before Congress considers easing sanctions.
US national security adviser Susan Rice has warned Congress not to seek new sanctions against Iran while the talks with world powers are ongoing.
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The US Department of Homeland Security has avoided a partial shutdown as Congress passed a one-week funding extension, hours before a midnight deadline.
The House voted 357-60 in favor of the short-term bill after it had been passed in the Senate.
President Barack Obama, who said he would back a short-term deal to avert a shutdown, signed it shortly afterwards.
It ensures the department’s 250,000 employees will be paid while a longer-term funding agreement is discussed.
The two-thirds majority vote was reached about two hours before the midnight deadline.
Earlier, Republicans had rejected a similar three-week extension after provisions against President Barack Obama’s immigration plan were dropped.
The one-week deal was backed by a majority of Democrats despite many of them voting against the earlier bill in the hope that a longer-term deal could be agreed.
The move came shortly after President Barack Obama had spoken by phone to Democratic leaders in a bid to avert the partial department closure.
The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for securing US borders, airports and coastal waters.
About 200,000 “essential” department employees would have continued to work without pay if the agency’s funding had not been secured.
Some Republicans had wanted to use the funding of the department, which includes immigration officials, as a bargaining chip to force President Barack Obama to end policies on immigration.
In November 2014, Barack Obama used his executive powers to protect about five million undocumented immigrants from deportation. Republicans say President Barack Obama overstepped his powers in doing so.
A separate ruling by a federal judge has blocked those policies from starting while a lawsuit by more than two dozen states goes forward.
Some Republicans senators had expressed a desire to fight the executive actions in the courts, rather than threaten the department’s funding.
On February 26, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson urged Congress to pass full funding.
“A short-term continuing resolution exacerbates the uncertainty for my workforce and puts us back in the same position, on the brink of a shutdown just days from now,” Jeh Johnson said.
Last week, the White House said President Barack Obama would prefer a full funding bill but would sign a short-term measure to prevent a shutdown.
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Secretary of State John Kerry has accused of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu of not being correct on Iran’s nuclear program talks.
Benjamin Netanyahu has criticized the US and others for “giving up” on trying to stop Iran obtaining nuclear weapons.
The Israeli PM “may not be correct”, John Kerry said after attending the latest Iran nuclear talks in Geneva.
Benjamin Netanyahu will address Congress next week, after an invitation by Republican leaders criticized by the White House.
John Kerry was reacting to a speech in which Benjamin Netanyahu had said the US and others were “accepting that Iran will gradually, within a few years, develop capabilities to produce material for many nuclear weapons”.
“I respect the White House and the president of the United States but on such a fateful matter, that can determine whether or not we survive, I must do everything to prevent such a great danger for Israel,” he said in a speech in Israel.
Having just concluded the latest round of nuclear talks with Iran in Geneva, John Kerry told senators President Barack Obama had made it clear the policy was not to let Iran get nuclear weapons and Benjamin Netanyahu’s might therefore not be correct.
The invitation for Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before Congress has angered Democrats.
Photo AFP/Getty Images
A spokesman for the White House warned against reducing US-Israeli relations to a party-political issue.
Earlier, US National Security Adviser Susan Rice had gone further and said Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit was “destructive to the fabric of the relationship”.
Benjamin Netanyahu was invited by House Speaker John Boehner in what is seen as a rebuke to President Barack Obama’s Iran policy.
Israel’s prime minister is expected to discuss Iran, as well as Islamist militant groups, in his address.
The current tensions took root over a decade ago when Iran’s nuclear program first came to light.
In 2005, Iran was referred to the UN Security Council, leading to a series of sanctions and UN resolutions requiring Tehran to stop enriching uranium.
The US and other powers – the so-called P5+1 – are negotiating with Iran on its nuclear program. They want to agree a deal by March this year, but Benjamin Netanyahu is opposed to any agreement which might allow Tehran to retain the future capacity to build a nuclear weapon.
Benjamin Netanyahu has turned down an invitation to meet Senate Democrats privately, saying this “could compound the misperception of partisanship” surrounding his trip.
Several Democratic members of Congress including Vice-President Joe Biden have said they will not attend the speech.
Republican leaders did not consult the Obama administration before inviting Benjamin Netanyahu, which the White House has called a breach of protocol.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on February 25: “The president has said the relationship between the US and Israel can’t just be reduced to a relationship between the Republican party and the Likud party.”
Barack Obama does not plan to meet Benjamin Netanyahu next week. The White House cited the “long-standing practice” of not meeting government leaders close to elections, which Israel will hold in mid-March.
Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting a tough election against the Labor Party’s Yitzhak Herzog, who has focused on the prime minister’s cooler relations with Barack Obama.
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President Barack Obama has vetoed the Keystone XL oil pipeline bill.
The Republican-led Congress sent the bill to the president on February 24.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama vetoed the bill “without any drama or fanfare or delay”.
The 875-mile pipeline would carry tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska where it joins pipes running to Texas.
The project has pitted Republicans and other supporters, who say it will create much needed jobs, against many Democrats and environmentalists, who warn the pipeline will add to carbon emissions and contribute to global warming.
The Keystone bill is Barack Obama’s third veto as president and his first since Republicans won full control of Congress in November.
More vetoes are expected in the coming months as Republicans in Congress craft legislation to reverse Barack Obama’s action on health care, immigration and financial regulation.
The Keystone XL pipeline project was first proposed more than six years ago, but has languished, awaiting a permit required by the federal government because it would cross an international boundary.
The White House has said the bill passed by Congress interfered with the normal permitting process.
Without a veto-busting majority in Congress, Republicans are considering inserting Keystone into other critical legislation dealing with energy, spending or infrastructure in the hope that Barack Obama would be less likely to veto those priorities.
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Prince Charles and Camilla are to meet President Barack Obama during a four-day tour of the US.
The White House said President Barack Obama will host the royal couple in the Oval Office on March 19.
Charles and Camilla will be in the US from March 17 to March 20 to “promote the UK’s partnership with the United States”, Clarence House said.
They will also mark the Magna Carta’s 800th anniversary during their trip.
Other parts of their tour will include a tour of Mount Vernon – home of America’s first president, George Washington – and a visit to Louisville, Kentucky, home city of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali.
While in Washington DC, the Prince of Wales will mark the Magna Carta’s anniversary during a visit to the National Archives.
Prince Charles will view the Charters of Freedom documents and the 1297 version of the Magna Carta, which is embodied in the American Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
He will also receive an award for “exceptional leadership in conservation” from the International Conservation Caucus Foundation.
Also in Washington DC, the prince and duchess will visit the Armed Forces Retirement Home, set in the same grounds as the Lincoln Cottage, where it is believed Abraham Lincoln wrote the last draft of the Emancipation Proclamation.
The Duchess of Cornwall, who has regularly raised awareness about rape victims, will carry out several solo engagements, including visiting the District of Columbia’s assault response team.
This is a coalition of 12 public and private community agencies which works to prevent assault and help victims of such crimes.
Camilla will visit a food literacy project for young people at a local farm while in Louisville, which will be where the couple ends their trip.
Prince Charles visited the Oval Office in 2011 to discuss energy and environmental issues with President Barack Obama.
A South Texas federal judge has put on hold President Barack Obama’s executive order on immigration, giving a coalition of 26 states time to pursue a lawsuit that aims to permanently stop the orders.
District Judge Andrew Hanen’s decision on February 16 comes after a hearing in Brownsville in January and temporarily blocks Barack Obama’s orders that could spare as many as five million people who are in the US illegally from deportation.
Andrew Hanen wrote in a memorandum accompanying his order that the lawsuit should go forward and that without a preliminary injunction the states will “suffer irreparable harm in this case.”
“The genie would be impossible to put back into the bottle,” he wrote, adding that he agreed with the plaintiffs’ argument that legalizing the presence of millions of people is a “virtually irreversible” action.
The White House in a statement on February 17 defended the executive orders issued in November as within the president’s legal authority, saying that the US Supreme Court and Congress have said federal officials can set priorities in enforcing immigration laws.
“The district court’s decision wrongly prevents these lawful, commonsense policies from taking effect and the Department of Justice has indicated that it will appeal that decision,” the statement said. An appeal would be heard by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
The first of Barack Obama’s orders – to expand a program that protects young immigrants from deportation if they were brought to the US illegally as children – was set to start taking effect on February 18. The other major part of Barack Obama’s order, which extends deportation protections to parents of US citizens and permanent residents who have been in the country for some years, was not expected to begin until May 19.
Joaquin Guerra, political director of Texas Organizing Project, called the ruling a “temporary setback.”
“We will continue getting immigrants ready to apply for administrative relief,” he said in a statement.
The coalition of states, led by Texas and made up of mostly conservative states in the South and Midwest, argues that President Barack Obama has violated the “Take Care Clause” of the US Constitution, which they say limits the scope of presidential power. They also say the order will force increased investment in law enforcement, health care and education.
In their request for the injunction, the coalition said it was necessary because it would be “difficult or impossible to undo the President’s lawlessness after the Defendants start granting applications for deferred action.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called the decision a “victory for the rule of law in America” in a statement late Monday.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who as the state’s former attorney general led the state into the lawsuit, said Judge Andrew Hanen’s decision “rightly stops the President’s overreach in its tracks”.
Judge Andrew Hanen, who’s been on the federal court since 2002 after being nominated by President George W. Bush, regularly handles border cases but wasn’t known for being outspoken on immigration until a 2013 case.
Congressional Republicans have vowed to block Barack Obama’s actions by cutting off Homeland Security Department spending for the program.
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President Barack Obama has denounced the murders of three Muslim students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina as “brutal and outrageous”.
In a statement, Barack Obama said no one in the US should be targeted for “what they look like” or “how they worship”.
Barack Obama’s comments came after criticism from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the president’s silence.
With suspect Craig Hicks in custody, police are still investigating the motive, amid family claims it was a hate crime.
The FBI has opened an inquiry into the case.
Deah Shaddy Barakat, his wife Yusor Mohammad and her sister Razan were found dead on February 10 in their home near the University of North Carolina, where Barakat was a dental student.
Craig Hicks, a neighbor of the students, has been charged with the murders.
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Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized President Barack Obama for his silence over the murder of three Muslim students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said politicians were responsible for events in their countries and had to clarify their stance over them.
More than 5,000 people attended the funeral of the students who were shot dead in Chapel Hill on February 10.
With a suspect in custody, police are still investigating the motive, amid family claims it was a hate crime.
Initial indications are that the gunman, Craig Hicks, acted in a dispute with the victims over a parking space, according to the police.
A district prosecutor said on February 11 there was no evidence that the victims – Deah Shaddy Barakat, wife Yusor Mohammad and her sister Razan – had been targeted because of their faith.
However, at next day’s funeral, the local police chief said his force would investigate every lead, including the possibility of a hate crime.
The murders have resonated both within US and around the world, especially on social media. The hashtag ChapelHillShooting has been used hundreds of thousands of times.
Speaking on a visit to Mexico, Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice-President Joe Biden for not having made any statement about the murder of the “three Muslims”.
“If you stay silent when faced with an incident like this, and don’t make a statement, the world will stay silent towards you,” he said.
“As politicians, we are responsible for everything that happens in our countries and we have to show our positions.”
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a devout Sunni Muslim who has been increasingly critical of the treatment of Muslims living in Western societies.
His relations with the Obama administration have also come under strain over the conflict in Syria and Iraq.
Turkey and the US are allies in the campaign against Islamic State militants, but differences over tactics have emerged over the last six months.
Thursday’s funeral was held at the athletic fields of North Carolina State University where all three victims had been students. Police estimate 5,500 people attended the event.
Craig Hicks gave himself up to police and has been charged with the murders. His Facebook profile included a photo that read “Atheists for Equality”. He also frequently posted quotes critical of religion.
However, his wife, Karen Hicks, said the incident had nothing to do with religion and her husband treated everyone equally. He also apparently had a history of conflicts with neighbors over parking spaces.
Deah Shaddy Barakat was a dental student at the university and his wife was planning to enroll in the school in the next term.
There has been criticism of a perceived lack of coverage in the mainstream media with the hashtag MuslimLivesMatter mentioned almost 100,000 times in the day following the shooting.
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President Barack Obama appears in a BuzzFeed video showing him practicing his messaging that people should go to HealthCare.gov by February 15 to get covered.
Barack Obama made the comic video to remind Americans that they only have through February 15 to sign up this year for ObamaCare.
Photo BuzzFeed
The video, released on February 12, shows Barack Obama speaking and checking himself out in front of a mirror. The clip is completed with silly faces and several shots with a selfie stick.
“In many cases, you can get health insurance for less than $100 a month,” Barack Obama said, following several instances in which he trips up on the pronunciation of “February”.
The video also shows Barack Obama making sketches of first lady Michelle Obama and donning aviator sunglasses.
The funny video, a follow-up perhaps to last year’s deadpan Between Two Ferns appearance with Zach Galifianakis, is the latest youth-focused effort on the part of the administration to boost sign-ups before the open enrollment period closes at midnight Pacific Time on February 15.
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The Congress has received a draft authorization to formally use military force against the Islamic State group (ISIS) from President Barack Obama.
The resolution would not restrict where US forces could pursue ISIS but bans “enduring offensive combat operations”.
The US has already pursued air strikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria since 2014.
Congress has not formally voted for military force since 2002, for the Iraq war.
Barack Obama has called for ending that resolution, about the Iraq war, but the new draft does not make any changes to the Afghanistan war resolution in 2001.
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The draft the president has sent Congress in regards to ISIS is limited to three years.
It will force Congress to vote on war for the first time in 13 years and it’s expected to set up a debate about America’s role in the Middle East and how to best counter the militant group.
In a letter sent to Congress along with his draft, President Barack Obama said while “existing statutes” allow the air strikes, he has “repeatedly expressed my commitment to working with the Congress to pass a bipartisan authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) against ISIL”.
Barack Obama said it “would not authorize long-term, large-scale ground combat operations like those our nation conducted in Iraq and Afghanistan” but would provide flexibility to pursue rescue operations and special operations attacks.
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President Barack Obama has confirmed the death of American aid worker Kayla Mueller, who had been held hostage by Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Syria.
Kayla Mueller’s family said they were “heartbroken” to learn the news, and released a letter written during her captivity.
Paying tribute to her, President Barack Obama said “she represents what is best about America”.
Last week, Islamic State said Kayla Mueller had died in a Jordanian air strike, without providing proof.
Kayla Mueller was abducted while working in Aleppo, Syria in 2013.
“Our hearts are breaking for our only daughter, but we will continue on in peace, dignity, and love for her,” her family said in a statement.
In a letter written in 2014, Kayla Mueller tries to reassure her family that she is safe and unharmed.
“I could only but write the letter a paragraph at a time, just the thought of you all sends me into a fit of tears,” she wrote.
“I know you would want me to remain strong. That is exactly what I am doing.”
Kayla Mueller’s death was determined after her family was contacted privately by her ISIS captors over the weekend, with US intelligence then confirming the details of the message.
“She has been taken from us, but her legacy endures, inspiring all those who fight, each in their own way, for what is just and what is decent,” President Barack Obama said in a statement.
“No matter how long it takes, the United States will find and bring to justice the terrorists who are responsible for Kayla’s captivity and death.”
Neither the White House nor Kayla Mueller’s family have given the circumstances behind her death.
She was the last known US hostage to be held by ISIS. Three others – journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and aid worker Peter Kassig – were beheaded by the group.
The militants’ claims that Kayla Mueller was killed by a Jordanian air strike were dismissed by Jordan as propaganda.
Kayla Mueller worked with a number of humanitarian organizations at home and abroad. She travelled to the Turkey-Syria border in 2012 to work with refugees.
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The US is studying the option of supplying lethal defensive arms to Ukraine if diplomacy fails to end the crisis in the east, President Barack Obama has said.
Russia had violated “every commitment” made in the failing Minsk agreement, he added, after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on a new peace deal.
Barack Obama has come under pressure from senior US officials to supply arms, despite objections from Angela Merkel.
Russia denies accusations of sending troops and supplying the rebels.
The latest diplomatic efforts come amid renewed fighting between the pro-Russia rebels and Ukrainian government troops, with fighting centered around the strategic railway hub of Debaltseve.
The rebels said on February 9 they had cut off a key supply road to the town, which is near the rebel-held city of Donetsk, but the military says the battle is ongoing.
Ukrainian government officials say nine soldiers and at least seven civilians have been killed in fighting over the last 24 hours.
The crisis in Ukraine has already claimed more than 5,300 lives and displaced 1.5 million people from their homes.
Angela Merkel met Barack Obama in Washington on February 9 to update him on Franco-German efforts to revive last year’s Minsk peace plan, which collapsed amid fighting over the winter.
The detailed proposals have not been released but the plan is thought to include a demilitarized zone of 50-70km (31-44 miles) around the current front line.
Four-way talks between Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France are due to be held in Belarus’s capital Minsk on February 11 to discuss the proposals.
Speaking alongside Angela Merkel, President Barack Obama said the option of lethal defensive weapons for the Ukrainian government remained on the table.
“If, in fact, diplomacy fails, what I’ve asked my team to do is to look at all options,” he said, adding that offering lethal arms was only one of the options under consideration.
Angela Merkel, who has made it clear she opposes sending lethal arms, acknowledged setbacks in efforts to reach a diplomatic solution with Russia over Ukraine, but said that they would continue.
Meanwhile Barack Obama criticized Russian aggression in Ukraine, saying that the borders of Europe could not be “redrawn at the barrel of a gun”.
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President Vladimir Putin has renewed the blame on the West for the Ukrainian crisis, as he works on Franco-German proposals to end fighting between the government and pro-Russia rebels.
Western countries had broken pledges not to expand NATO and forced countries to choose between them and Russia, Vladimir Putin told an Egyptian newspaper.
The comments come amid new hopes of a peace deal on February 11.
Russia denies accusations of sending troops and supplying the rebels.
The fighting in eastern Ukraine has claimed more than 5,300 lives and driven 1.5 million people from their homes.
At least nine Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the past 24 hours, officials say.
Photo RT
Fighting is said to be intense around the town of Debaltseve, near the rebel-held city of Donetsk.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to brief President Barack Obama in Washington on February 9 on the peace plan Germany and France have tried to reach with Ukraine and Russia.
The Washington talks come as the US considers sending weapons to the Ukrainian government.
Angela Merkel told a security conference at the weekend that she could not “imagine any situation in which improved equipment for the Ukrainian army leads to President Putin being so impressed that he believes he will lose militarily”.
Secretary of State John Kerry has denied any rift with EU leaders, saying: “I keep hearing people trying to create one. We are united, we are working closely together.”
Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande have been leading efforts to revive the Minsk peace plan, which collapsed amid fighting over the winter.
The detailed proposals have not been released but the plan is thought to include a demilitarized zone of 50-70km (31-44 miles) around the current front line.
The four leaders have announced plans to meet in Minsk on February 11 – provided agreement is reached in the meantime in talks in Berlin.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on February 9 there were hopes for a settlement but nothing had been agreed.
At the start of a visit to Egypt, President Putin renewed his attack on Western countries for their “hollow” promises not to expand NATO to include former Soviet countries, and therefore ignoring Russian interests.
There had been attempts, Vladimir Putin told Egypt’s al-Ahram newspaper, “to tear states which had been parts of the former USSR [Soviet Union] off Russia and to prompt them to make an artificial choice <<between Russia and Europe>>”.
“We repeatedly warned the US and its Western allies about harmful consequences of their interference in Ukrainian domestic affairs but they did not listen to our opinion,” the Russian leader said.
Vladimir Putin went on to accuse them of supporting a “coup d’etat in Kiev” – a reference to the ousting of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych last year.
Viktor Yanukovych lost power amid protests over his decision to scrap a deal that would have seen Ukraine establish closer ties with the European Union.
Since then, Russia has annexed Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula and rebels in the east have sought to establish full control over the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
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The US has expanded visa restrictions on unnamed Venezuelan officials it accuses of human rights violations and corruption.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said the measures were an attempt to violate Venezuelan sovereignty.
They build on sanctions imposed last year on officials alleged to have violated the rights of protesters.
The list of officials banned from entering the US has been extended, and now includes family members.
“We are sending a clear message that human rights abusers, those who profit from public corruption, and their families are not welcome in the United States,” said US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
Nicolas Maduro reacted angrily and said he would write a letter to President Barack Obama.
“We can’t let an empire that has been eyeing all of us pretend or think it has the right to sanction the country of [Simon] Bolivar,” Nicolas Maduro said, making reference to the Venezuela-born hero of Latin American liberation.
The sanctions imposed in December were aimed at officials accused over their role in suppressing anti-government protests that shook Venezuela in the first six months of 2014.
The new visa restrictions were announced a day after Nicolas Maduro accused Vice-President Joe Biden of plotting a coup against his Socialist government during an energy summit of Caribbean leaders in Washington.
Joe Biden’s office called the allegation “baseless and patently false”.
“President Maduro’s accusations are clearly part of an effort to distract from the concerning situation in Venezuela, which includes repeated violations of freedom of speech, assembly, and due process,” read a statement.
Joe Biden and Nicolas Maduro had shaken hands in Brazil during Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s inauguration ceremony on January 1.
“Vice-President Biden: Look me in the eyes. I saw you in Brazil, I gave you my hand,” said Nicolas Maduro in a televised address on February 1.
“You, who said this is a new era for relations in Latin America, were going to conspire against Venezuela,” he added.
Relations between the US and Venezuela have been tense for many years. They last had ambassadors in each other’s capitals in 2010.
President Barack Obama has sent a $4 trillion budget proposal to Congress with significant tax rises, primarily on companies and the wealthy.
Barack Obama’s plan would use new taxes to remove current budget caps and fund infrastructure projects.
The president spoke at the US homeland security department, which faces a funding shortage at the end of February.
However, analysts say it is unlikely the Republican-controlled Congress will approve the proposals.
Barack Obama’s spending plan is considered the opening gambit in an expected negotiation with Congress.
Republican budget officials are expected to put forward their own proposals in a few weeks time.
GOP representatives accuse Barack Obama of reverting to tax-and-spend policies without changing the biggest areas of government spending – social security and health programs.
Paul Ryan, the Republican’s top budget official, said Barack Obama was exploiting “envy economics” in his proposal.
“This top down redistribution doesn’t work,” Paul Ryan told NBC.
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Among the new tax rises is a one-off 14% tax on US profits made overseas, as well as a 19% tax on any future profits as they are earned.
No tax is currently due on foreign profits as long as they are not brought into the US.
The $238 billion raised would be used to fund infrastructure projects across the country.
According to Audit Analytics, US companies made $2.1 trillion-worth of profits abroad at April 2014.
Among Barack Obama’s proposals are:
- tax credits for child care and “second earners”
- earners taxed at the top rate would only be able to take tax deductions at a lower rate
- an increase in capital gains tax from 20% to 28%
- a tax rise on cigarettes over 10 years from $1.01 per pack to $1.95
Barack Obama also called for an end to spending caps on the military and most domestic agencies first put in place in 2011.
Calling the caps “mindless austerity”, Barack Obama’s budget eliminates such limits for the six years they are scheduled to remain in place, representing a spending increase of $362 billion.
Barack Obama warned congressional Republicans on February 2 that he would not accept lifting caps on national security spending without doing the same for domestic programs.
“I will not accept a budget that severs the vital links between our national security and our economic security,” he said.
“Those two things go hand in hand.”
The spending plan also includes proposals Barack Obama promised in his State of the Union speech last month, including free community college tuition.
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President Barack Obama is planning to close a tax loophole that allows American companies to avoid paying taxes on overseas profits, the White House says.
Barack Obama’s 2016 budget will impose a one-off 14% tax on US profits stashed overseas, as well as a 19% tax on any future profits as they are earned.
The $238 billion raised will be used to fund road projects in the US.
The proposal is one of the main components of Barack Obama’s latest budget, due to be presented on February 2.
The spending plan, including the proposal on overseas profits, would require approval from the Republican-controlled Congress to be made law, something seen as unlikely.
Research firm Audit Analytics calculated last April that US companies in total have $2.1 trillion-worth of profits stashed abroad.
Photo AP
It found US conglomerate General Electric had the most profit stored overseas at $110 billion. Tech giants Microsoft and Apple and drugs companies Pfizer and Merck all featured in the top five.
No tax is currently due on foreign profits as long as they are not brought into the United States.
As a result some companies put their earnings in low tax jurisdictions and simply leave them there.
The White House said its plans for an immediate 14% tax would raise $238 billion, which would be used to fund a wider $478 billion public works program of road, bridge and public transport upgrades.
“This transition tax would mean that companies have to pay US tax right now on the $2 trillion they already have overseas, rather than being able to delay paying any US tax indefinitely,” a White House official said.
The official said that after this one-off tax, the 19% permanent tax firms would have to pay on overseas profits “would level the playing field, and encourage firms to create jobs here at home”.
The tax rate is far lower than the current US top corporate tax rate of 35%.
Cuban leader Raul Castro has demanded the US hand back the Guantanamo Bay military base before relations with Washington are normalized.
In a speech, President Raul Castro also called for the lifting of the US trade embargo and Cuba’s removal from a terror list.
Last month Cuba and the US announced a thaw in relations, agreeing to restore diplomatic ties which were severed in 1961.
High-level talks were held last week.
A Congressional delegation arrived in Havana to begin negotiations aimed at reopening embassies in the two countries’ capitals.
Meanwhile, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro appeared to signal his approval for the political rapprochement.
Cuba’s state-run newspaper Gramma published a letter on January 27 in which he wrote: “We will always defend co-operation and friendship with all the people of the world, including with our political adversaries.”
He wrote that although he did not “trust the policy of the US”, it did not mean he rejected a “peaceful solution to conflicts”.
Fidel Castro’s brother, Raul, who succeeded him as president in 2008, made his demands at the summit of Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in Costa Rica.
“The reestablishment of diplomatic relations is the start of a process of normalising bilateral relations,” he said.
“But this will not be possible while the blockade still exists, while they don’t give back the territory illegally occupied by the Guantanamo naval base.”
The land on which the base stands was leased to the US government in 1903 by Cuba’s then-rulers.
US officials have so far not responded to Raul Castro’s remarks.
President Barack Obama has called on Congress to put an end to the trade embargo, which has been in place since 1962.
Earlier this month President Barack Obama also used his executive powers to loosen trade and restrictions on travel to Cuba.
President Barack Obama is visiting Saudi Arabia’s new King Abdullah after the death of King Abdullah.
Barack Obama cut short a trip to India to make time for the visit.
The president is being accompanied by prominent Republican officials, including former Secretaries of State James Baker and Condoleezza Rice.
Saudi Arabia is a key US ally in a region riven by war and rivalries.
Barack Obama had been due to visit the Taj Mahal in India on January 27, but had to cancel to allow for the four-hour visit to Riyadh.
In an interview with CNN before he left India, Barack Obama suggested he would be unlikely to raise the case of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison last May for “insulting Islam through electronic channels” and “going beyond the realm of obedience”.
Barack Obama’s visit would focus on “paying respects to King Abdullah, who in his own fashion represented some modest reform efforts within the kingdom”, the president added.
On human rights, Barack Obama said: “We have maintained a sustained dialogue with the Saudis and with all the other countries we work with. What I have found effective is to apply steady, consistent pressure, even as we are getting business done that needs to get done.”
“And oftentimes that makes some of our allies uncomfortable. It makes them frustrated, sometimes we have to balance our need to speak to them about human rights issues with immediate concerns that we have in terms of countering terrorism or dealing with regional stability.”
Also among the 30-strong US delegation are CIA director John Brennan, John McCain, the Republican chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, and Republican former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft.
Saudi Arabia is among the US-led coalition of Western and Arab nations conducting air strikes against Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq.
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According to Indian media, President Barack Obama has cancelled plans to visit the Taj Mahal during his upcoming visit to India.
Barack Obama was scheduled to go to India’s famed monument to love with First Lady Michelle Obama on January 27, at the end of a three-day visit to India.
Hundreds of cleaners had been hired to spruce up the white marbled mausoleum in preparation for their arrival.
The Hindustan Times website cited unnamed Indian officials as saying Barack Obama was cutting his India visit short to fly to Saudi Arabia following the death of King Abdullah.
The Hindu website carried a similar report, quoting a government source as saying: “It’s possible that he might leave India earlier.”
The White House did not comment on the reports.
Barack Obama will hold talks with Indian PM Narendra Modi and become the first serving US president to be guest of honor at the Republic Day parade during his second visit to India since taking office.
Analysts say the invitation to attend India’s Republic Day celebrations on January 26 emphasizes a new closeness between the world’s two largest democracies.
The cancellation of the Taj Mahal visit would deprive India’s top tourist attraction of publicity at a time when the government is trying to boost visitor numbers.
Twitter users rushed to thank Barack Obama for orchestrating a clean-up of the mausoleum in the town of Agra, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his beloved empress who died during childbirth in 1631.
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President Barack Obama will not meet Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits in March to speak to Congress, the White House has announced.
Spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan cited a “long-standing practice” of not meeting heads of state close to elections, which Israel will hold in mid-March.
Benjamin Netanyahu was invited by House Speaker John Boehner in what is seen as a rebuke to Barack Obama’s Iran policy.
President Barack Obama has said he will veto attempts to add new sanctions on Iran.
He believes new measures will be harmful to negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, talks Benjamin Netanyahu has opposed.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu has warned a deal between Iran and the US will pose a threat to Israel.
On January 22, Benjamin Netanyahu formally accepted the invitation from senior Republican John Boehner, saying it will give him the chance to “thank President Barack Obama, Congress and the American people for their support of Israel”.
Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to discuss Iran, as well as Islamic militant groups, in his address to Congress on March 3.
“As a matter of long-standing practice and principle, we do not see heads of state or candidates in close proximity to their elections, so as to avoid the appearance of influencing a democratic election in a foreign country,” Bernadette Meehan said in a statement.
She added President Barack Obama had “been clear about his opposition” about new sanctions legislation.
“The president has had many conversations with the prime minister on this matter, and I am sure they will continue to be in contact.”
Nancy Pelosi, the House’s top Democrat, said the visit, two weeks before Israel’s election and in the midst of “delicate” Iran talks, is not “appropriate and helpful”.
Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting a tough election against the Labor Party’s Yitzhak Herzog, who has focused on the prime minister’s cooler relations with Barack Obama.
The highest-level US delegation to Cuba in 35 years begins talks aimed at restoring diplomatic ties and eventually normalizing relations between two adversaries who have been locked in Cold War-era hostilities.
The talks in Havana are part of a thaw in relations between the two rivals announced last month in simultaneous speeches by President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro.
They come only hours after President Barack Obama urged Congress to seize the chance to end the US trade embargo against Cuba.
The talks will focus on migration and restoring full diplomatic ties.
Both sides are also expected to outline longer-term goals. While Cuba will seek the repeal of Washington’s 53-year-old economic embargo and ask to be removed from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, the Americans will press the one-party state for greater human rights.
The US delegation will be led by Roberta Jacobson, the top US diplomat for Latin America. The last time someone of her level of seniority visited Cuba was 35 years ago.
The Cubans have not made their agenda public, but talks are expected to focus on migration issues on January 21 and fuller diplomatic relations on January 22.
On January 20, President Barack Obama stressed the importance of the thaw in US-Cuban relations in his State of the Union address to Congress.
He said his decision to engage with Cuba after decades of frozen relations had the potential to “end a legacy of mistrust in our hemisphere”.
The president also urged Congress to begin work on ending the US trade embargo against Cuba, which has been in force for more than five decades.
“In Cuba, we are ending a policy that was long past its expiration date. When what you’re doing doesn’t work for 50 years, it’s time to try something new,” he said.
Barack Obama said the shift in his administration’s Cuba policy removed “a phony excuse for restrictions in Cuba; stands up for democratic values; and extends the hand of friendship to the Cuban people”.
However, President Barack Obama does not have the power to lift the embargo, only Congress can do that and correspondents say many Republicans are still deeply opposed to this.
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In his annual State of the Union address to Congress, President Barack Obama has declared an end to the financial crisis and pledged economic policies to benefit all Americans.
Barack Obama outlined his strategy for “middle-class economics in a speech devised to appeal to working families”.
“It’s now up to us to choose who we want to be over the next 15 years,” he said.
However, the plans are unlikely to make it past a Republican-controlled Congress.
In a speech which he described as more focused on values than policies, Barack Obama declared America had turned a page after the worst recession since the Depression.
The president said he planned to build on this growth by providing working families with help in the form of sick and maternity leave and affordable childcare.
“Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well? Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and chances for everyone who makes the effort?”
His speech included plans to build a competitive economy by improving America’s infrastructure and providing free access to community college.
“This plan is your chance to graduate ready for a new economy, without a load of debt,” Barack Obama said.
Photo Reuters
At the weekend, the White House pledged to close tax loopholes on large inheritances, raise capital gains tax on the richest earners from 23.8% to 28% and introduce new fees on US financial companies with assets about $50 billion.
Some senior members of the Republican party dismissed this as “class warfare”.
Other plans outlined by the president include:
- improve statutory sick leave and minimum wage
- help nine million students to pay for community college
- stronger cybersecurity and consumer protection
- continue with plans to shut the prison in Guantanamo
- equal pay for men and women
On foreign policy, Barack Obama said America reserved the “right to act unilaterally” in hunting down terrorists and called on Congress to pass a resolution to authorize the use of force against Islamic State.
The president reiterated his belief that the US could negotiate an agreement to prevent Iran gaining nuclear weapons and said he would veto any new sanctions bill which threatens this.
He said his decision to end America’s long-standing policy on Cuba and try something new had the potential to “end a legacy of mistrust in our hemisphere”.
Alan Gross, who was recently released after spending five years in a Cuban prison, was among Michelle Obama’s guests for the speech.
In ending his address, Barack Obama said he was optimistic he could work with Congress, despite months of political gridlock.
“I have no more campaigns to run. My only agenda for the next two years is the same as the one I’ve had since the day I swore an oath on the steps of this Capitol – to do what I believe is best for America,” he said.
But consensus with the Republican party on many of the issues he outlined is unlikely.
In their official rebuttal, Republican senator and rising star, Joni Ernst, said Americans have not seen solutions from Barack Obama and criticized his health and immigration policies.
“Americans have been hurting, but when we demanded solutions, too often Washington responded with the same stale mindset that led to failed policies like ObamaCare,” she said.
The senator called on Barack Obama to work with Republicans on issues where they might have common ground – including a trade deal and tax code reform.
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President Barack Obama will call for tax increases on the wealthy to help the middle class during his State of the Union address on January 20.
The proposals would raise $320 billion over a decade, to fund benefits such as tax credits.
The speech is the centerpiece of the US political diary and may shape both Barack Obama’s legacy and the 2016 election.
However, the president faces resistance to his proposals, with Republicans controlling both Houses of Congress.
With the US economy growing, President Barack Obama will stress that it is time for ordinary US families to feel the benefits.
According to US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the plans include:
- Closing a loophole allowing the wealthiest Americans to pass on certain assets tax free
- Raising capital gains tax on the richest earners from 23.8% to 28%
- New fees on US financial firms with more than $50 billion in assets
The revenues would rise more than enough to fund the proposed benefits for the middle class, according to the officials.
These include tripling child tax credits, help for families with two working spouses and extra incentives to save for retirement.
The speech is also set to include a plan to expanding free community college education and proposals on cyber-security.
The State of the Union speech will be President Obama’s first since the Republicans seized control of the two Houses of Congress at elections last November.
His proposals have already been dismissed by some in the party.
“Slapping American small businesses, savers, and investors with more tax hikes only negates the benefits of the tax policies that have been successful in helping to expand the economy, promote savings, and create jobs,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin G Hatch said.
Administration officials hope to find some common ground with their opponents.
They also say the increase in capitals gains taxes, likely to be resisted by many Republicans, returns the rate to what it was under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.
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