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Oscar-nominated movie Selma will be shown at the White House during a special screening hosted by President Barack Obama.
Selma depicts the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The movie is a contender for best picture at next month’s Academy Awards, alongside seven other films including Birdman, Boyhood and Grand Budapest Hotel.
Cast and crew, including director Ava DuVernay, are expected to attend the screening on January 16.
Selma picked up just two nominations for the Oscars, the second being a nomination for best original song, Glory, by John Legend and Common.
David Oyelowo missed out on a best actor citation, for his depiction of Martin Luther King, and Ava DuVernay failed to make the cut for best director.
Had she been nominated, Ava DuVernay would have become the first African-American woman to be nominated in that category.
The Oscar nominations have come under fire from some commentators for their lack of diversity, after it was revealed that all 20 contenders for the acting categories were white.
However, the Academy’s first African-American woman president, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, told New York Magazine‘s Vulture blog that the organization does not have a diversity problem “at all”.
Previous Oscar contenders to be shown at the White House include last year’s Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and Stephen Spielberg’s Lincoln in 2012, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln.
The screening will take place in the 40-seat family cinema, part of Barack Obama’s private family quarters, according to Variety.
The first movie screened at the White House was in 1915, when Woodrow Wilson hosted a showing of Birth of a Nation.
The Obamas have also screened Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Julie & Julia (2009), starring Meryl Streep and He’s Just Not That Into You (2009), starring Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson and Drew Barrymore.
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At least 36 Cuban opposition activists have been released from prison since January 7, according to dissident organizations.
They are believed to be from a list of 53 activists the US requested to be freed as part of efforts to mend links.
White House spokesman Eric Schultz said the US was pleased with the move.
Cuba and the US announced last month they had agreed to restore diplomatic relations, severed since 1961.
The American government is confident that the Cuban authorities will keep their word and release more political prisoners, said Eric Schultz.
The 53 names put forward by the US have not been disclosed.
Twenty-nine of the activists released since January 7 are from the dissident Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU).
“Our freed prisoners are committed to continue fighting for the democratic Cuba which we all want,” the group’s leader, Jose Daniel Ferrer, said in a statement.
“The UNPACU activists have left prison with more energy, force and motivation than they had when they were jailed.”
Photo Reuters
On January 8, the US announced that Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson would lead a delegation travelling to the capital, Havana, later this month.
These will be the first high level talks since Cuba and the US announced that they were restoring relations.
The US Department of State said the talks – to take place on January 21 and 22 – will focus on migration.
They will also discuss the practicalities of reopening embassies in Washington DC and Havana, said the Department of State.
The rapprochement process was announced by President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro on December 17.
Barack Obama’s proposal to restore relations still needs to be approved by Congress, where it faces opposition from many Republicans and anti-Castro lawmakers.
The US says it will continue to push Raul Castro’s government to respect human rights and the freedom of speech.
Senator Marco Rubio, a leading critic of President Barack Obama on the Cuba question, and other Cuban-Americans in Congress have argued that the president’s change of policy could provide legitimacy and money for the Cuban government while it continues to violate human rights.
Last week, the Cuban authorities detained several high-profile dissidents who were planning to stage an open microphone protest in Havana’s Revolution Square.
The US Department of State issued a statement saying it was “deeply concerned” by the reports. The activists were eventually released.
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President Barack Obama has threatened to veto the bill approving the controversial Keystone XL pipeline if it passes Congress, the White House has announced.
It is the first major legislation to be introduced in the Republican-controlled Congress and a vote is expected in the House later this week.
Spokesman Josh Earnest said the legislation would undermine a “well-established” review process.
The $5.4 billion-project was first introduced in 2008.
Barack Obama has been critical of the pipeline, saying at the end of last year it would primarily benefit Canadian oil firms and not contribute much to already dropping petrol prices.
Environmentalists are also critical of the project, a proposed 1,179-mile pipe that would run from the oil sands in Alberta, Canada, to Steele City, Nebraska, where it could join an existing pipe.
The project is the subject of a unresolved lawsuit in Nebraska over the route of the pipeline.
“There is already a well-established process in place to consider whether or not infrastructure projects like this are in the best interest of the country,” Josh Earnest said on January 6.
He added that the question of the Nebraska route was “impeding a final conclusion” from the US on the project.
Despite the veto threat from the White House, the bill sponsors say they have enough Democratic votes to overcome a procedural hurdle to pass in the Senate.
“The Congress on a bipartisan basis is saying we are approving this project,” said Republican John Hoeven, one of the bill’s sponsors.
John Hoeven and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said they would be open to additional amendments to the bill, a test of the changing political realities of the Senate.
Democratic critics of the bill are said to be planning to add measures to prohibit exporting the oil abroad, use American materials in the pipeline construction and increased investment in clean energy.
It is unclear if those amendments would gather the two-thirds of votes needed in both chambers to override Barack Obama’s veto.
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John Boehner has survived a House rebellion by winning a third term as House speaker after Republicans took control of both chambers for the first time in eight years.
Twenty five Republicans voted against him.
At the top of the Republican agenda is approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, which was the first bill introduced.
Republicans won a majority in the Senate during November’s mid-term election.
They already controlled the House of Representatives.
They have been angered by recent unilateral actions by President Barack Obama including an executive action on immigration policy and a major shift in US policy on Cuba.
Photo AFP/Getty Images
Both chambers convened at midday, as required by the US constitution, after an early morning storm that left the capital city covered in snow.
“Hard work awaits,” said the new Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell.
“I’m really optimistic about what we can accomplish.”
During prepared remarks on January 6, John Boehner said he wanted Barack Obama to work with Republicans on bills that have stalled in recent years.
He also criticized unnamed fellow representatives for “shadow boxing and show business”.
The first bill to be introduced was the approval for Keystone XL, a controversial oil pipeline extension on hold for years.
It may have enough support to pass a procedural hurdle in the Senate but on Tuesday, the White House has said Barack Obama would veto the legislation if it came to his desk.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the legislation undermined a “well-established” review process and did not take into account a lawsuit still pending in the state of Nebraska over the pipeline’s route.
President Barack Obama has used his power of veto twice in his six years as president, but has said he expects to use it more now that both chambers are controlled by Republicans.
Republicans are also set to take on Barack Obama’s immigration policy changes through a funding fight, legislation to repeal or defund the health law often referred to as “ObamaCare”, and fast-track a Pacific trade deal.
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North Korea has berated President Barack Obama over the release of The Interview movie in the US.
The Interview is about a fictional plot to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
North Korea’s National Defense Commission (NDC) also accused the US of shutting down the country’s internet – and used a racial slur to describe the “reckless” Barack Obama.
Sony Pictures had originally pulled The Interview after a cyber-attack and threats.
The company later reconsidered, releasing the comedy on Christmas Day.
A number of critics – including President Barack Obama – had warned that freedom of expression was under threat if the movie was shelved.
The controversial film was shown in some US cinemas and online, with several hundred independent theaters coming forward and offering to show the film. However, larger cinemas decided not screen it.
Kim Jong-un’s potential difficulty is that The Interview – which casts the North Korean leader as a malign, vain buffoon – has been widely reviewed as funny and astute.
In a statement on Saturday, an NDC spokesman denounced the US for screening the “dishonest and reactionary movie hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK [North Korea] and agitating terrorism”.
President Barack Obama, the statement said, “is the chief culprit who forced the Sony Pictures Entertainment to indiscriminately distribute the movie”, blackmailing cinemas in the US.
It added: “Obama always goes reckless in words and deeds like a monkey in a tropical forest.”
The NDC also accused also Washington of “groundlessly linking the unheard of hacking at the Sony Pictures Entertainment to the DPRK”.
Sony Pictures had initially pulled the film after suffering an unprecedented hacking attack at the hands of a group calling itself the Guardians of Peace.
The hackers also threatened to carry out a terrorist attack on cinemas showed the film on its scheduled release date of Christmas Day.
Last week, the FBI said its analysis pointed the finger at North Korea. However, many cyber-security experts have come forward to dispute this assertion.
At the time, North Korea denied being behind the attack but described it as a “righteous deed”.
North Korea subsequently suffered a severe internet outage.
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Cuba’s President Raul Castro has stressed that Havana will not change its political system after recent US move to normalize bilateral relations.
Raul Castro also warned that Cuba faced a “long and difficult struggle” before the US removed its economic embargo.
On December 17, President Barack Obama announced a “new chapter” in US ties with communist-run Cuba.
He said the changes were the “most significant” in US policy towards Cuba in 50 years.
US-Cuba relations have remained frozen since the early 1960s, when the US broke off diplomatic relations and imposed a trade embargo after Cuba’s revolution.
Speaking in the National Assembly in Havana, President Raul Castro said this week’s announcement by Barack Obama removed an “obstacle” in bilateral relations.
Raul Castro, the brother of former leader Fidel Castro, said he was open to discussing a wide range of issues with Washington, but stressed that Cuba would not give up its socialist principles.
“In the same way that we have never demanded that the United States change its political system, we will demand respect for ours.”
Raul Castro added that Cuba had to go through a “long and difficult struggle” before the decades-old US economic embargo would be lifted.
Announcing the normalization of diplomatic and economic ties, President Barack Obama said Washington’s approach towards Cuba was “outdated”.
As part of the deal, US contractor Alan Gross and an unnamed intelligence officer loyal to the US were released from Cuban prison in return for three Cubans held in the US.
Barack Obama also said he wanted to reopen a US embassy in Havana in the coming months.
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President Barack Obama has signed an executive order banning the export of goods, technology and services to Crimea.
The executive order also imposes new sanctions on certain Russian and Ukrainian individuals and companies.
The West has imposed various sanctions on Russia since it annexed Crimea after the removal of Ukraine’s pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych in February.
Barack Obama said his latest decision was to show that the US would not accept Russia’s annexation.
The annexation was followed in April by pro-Russian separatists taking control of parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine and declaring independence.
Some 4,700 people have died and another million have been displaced by fighting since then, the UN says.
On December 19, five Ukrainian soldiers were killed in fighting – the highest death toll since the latest attempt at a ceasefire began on 9 December.
Barack Obama said in a statement: “The executive order is intended to provide clarity to US corporations doing business in the region and reaffirm that the United States will not accept Russia’s occupation and attempted annexation of Crimea.”
Photo AP
In addition to the goods, technology and services ban, US individuals or companies cannot now buy any real estate or businesses in Crimea or fund Crimean firms.
The new measures also include sanctions on 24 Ukrainian and Russian individuals and on a number of companies deemed to be destabilizing Ukraine.
They include the Russian equity investment group, Marshall Capital Partners, and the Night Wolves biker group, over its involvement in Crimean military action.
Meanwhile, the EU imposed its own new sanctions against the Crimea region.
Like the EU, Barack Obama said he would not yet impose new sanctions on Russia, urging it again to de-escalate the tension in eastern Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that “threatening new sanctions against Russia could undermine the possibility of normal cooperation between our countries for a long time”.
Barack Obama said: “I again call on Russia to end its occupation and attempted annexation of Crimea, cease its support to separatists in eastern Ukraine, and fulfill its commitments under the Minsk agreement.”
The agreement signed by Ukraine and the rebels in Minsk, in Belarus, in September, put in place a ceasefire and set out the terms for a peace process.
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President Barack Obama has promised a strong response after North Korea’s alleged cyber-attack on Sony Pictures.
The president also said the studio “made a mistake” in refusing to release The Interview, a controversial satire depicting the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
On December 19 US authorities linked North Korea to the hack, which saw sensitive studio information publicly released.
Sony withdrew The Interview following continued threats.
“We will respond,” Barack Obama told reporters on December 19, declining to offer specifics.
“We will respond proportionately and in a space, time and manner that we choose.”
He added: “We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship in the United States.”
Barack Obama said it was important to protect both public and private cyber-systems from attack which could have significant economic and social impacts.
He also noted he believed Sony Pictures was mistaken in failing to go ahead with the release.
“Americans cannot change their patterns of behavior due to the possibility of a terrorist attack,” he said.
“That’s not who we are, that’s not what America is about.”
Earlier on Friday, FBI officially tied North Korea to the cyber-attack, linking the country to malware used in the incident.
Sony cancelled the holiday release of The Interview after national theatre chains refused to show it.
Hackers had earlier issued a warning referring to the 9/11 terror attacks, saying “the world will be full of fear” if the film was screened.
The movie features James Franco and Seth Rogen as two journalists who are granted an audience with Kim Jong-un.
The CIA then enlists the pair to assassinate him. The film was due to have been released over Christmas.
The film’s canceled release drew criticism in Hollywood, with some calling it an attack on the freedom of expression.
In November, a cyber-attack crippled computers at Sony and led to upcoming films and workers’ personal data being leaked online.
The hackers also released salary details and social security numbers for thousands of Sony employees – including celebrities.
North Korea earlier this month denied involvement in the hack – but praised the attack itself as a “righteous deed”.
However, the communist country warned the US that “there are a great number of supporters and sympathizers” of North Korea “all over the world” who may have carried out the attack.
In the article, Sony Pictures was accused of “abetting a terrorist act” and “hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership” of North Korea by producing the movie.
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Congressmen who are against President Barack Obama’s new Cuba policy have threatened to block his efforts to restore diplomatic relations after 50 years of hostility.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio promised on CNN to block the nomination of any US ambassador to Cuba.
Other anti-Castro legislators suggested Congress would removing funding for any normalized ties with the country.
US-Cuban ties have been frozen since the early 1960s – a policy of isolation Barack Obama condemned as a failure.
On December 17, President Barack Obama said it was time for a new approach.
As part of the deal, US contractor Alan Gross, 65, and an unnamed intelligence officer loyal to the US were released from Cuban prison in return for three Cubans held in the US.
The US will now seek to set up an embassy in Cuba, expand US visitors to Cuba, open up banking and increase caps on how much cash Cubans can post to relatives on to the island.
Only Congress has the power to end the full trade embargo, and with many Republicans deeply opposed to such a change, correspondents say it is unlikely to happen soon.
Among those opposed to restoring diplomatic relations was Democratic Senator Robert Menendez who said he was “deeply disappointed”.
“It’s a fallacy to believe that Cuba will reform because an American president opens his hands and the Castro brothers will suddenly unclench their fists.”
Fellow Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, said he would be among those trying to pass legislation to undercut funding for policy changes, including setting up an embassy.
“Normalizing relations with Cuba is a bad idea at a bad time,” tweeted Lindsey Graham, who will become chairman of a committee that determines state department funding in January.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio slammed the deal as “inexplicable”.
“Appeasing the Castro brothers will only cause other tyrants from Caracas to Tehran to Pyongyang to see that they can take advantage of President Obama’s naiveté during his final two years in office,” Marci Rubio said in a statement.
Marco Rubio told CNN on Wednesday he reserved the right “to do everything within the rules of the Senate to prevent that sort of individual from ever even coming up for a vote,” referring to the confirmation process for ambassadors in relation to Cuba.
Their objections mirror the concerns of some dissident Cubans living in the US.
“It is a betrayal. The talks are only going to benefit Cuba,” Carlos Munoz Fontanil said at a protest in Miami’s Calle Ocho.
Meanwhile, other world leaders have welcomed the move.
Leading the praise, Pope Francis sent “warm congratulations” to Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro for overcoming “the difficulties which have marked their recent history”.
The announcement followed more than a year of secret talks in Canada and at the Vatican, directly involving the pontiff.
The EU, which is in the process of normalizing ties with Cuba, described the move as a “historical turning point”, while leaders meeting at a Latin America summit in Argentina broke into applause at the news.
Canadian PM Stephen Harper, whose country never broke off ties with Cuba, welcomed what he called the “overdue development”.
Officials said that Barack Obama and Raul Castro spoke by telephone on December 16 for nearly an hour – the first presidential-level talks between the two nations since Cuba’s 1959 revolution.
In exchange for Alan Gross, who was in poor health, and the unnamed intelligence officer, Washington released three members of the so-called “Cuban Five” who were serving lengthy sentences for espionage.
Alan Gross’s five-year imprisonment had undermined previous attempts to thaw diplomatic relations between the two countries.
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The US historic move to end more than 50 years of hostility towards Cuba and restore diplomatic relations has been welcomed by world leaders.
Pope Francis joined leaders from Latin America and Europe in praising the “historic” deal which saw the release of prisoners from both countries.
However, dozens of dissident Cubans oppose the move, which some Republicans have labeled a “retreat” by the US.
US-Cuban ties have been frozen since the early 1960s.
President Barack Obama said the “rigid and outdated policy” of isolating Cuba since then had clearly failed and that it was time for a new approach.
President Raul Castro, meanwhile, has urged the US to ends its trade embargo, which has been in place since the Cuba turned to Communism more than 50 years ago.
Power to lift the embargo, which Raul Castro says has caused “enormous human and economic damage”, lies with the US Congress, and correspondents say many Republicans are still deeply opposed to this.
Photo Getty Images
Leading the praise, Pope Francis sent “warm congratulations” to Barack Obama and Raul Castro for overcoming “the difficulties which have marked their recent history”.
The announcement followed more than a year of secret talks in Canada and at the Vatican, directly involving the pontiff.
The EU, which is in the process of normalizing ties with Cuba, described the move as a “historical turning point”, while leaders meeting at a Latin America summit in Argentina broke into applause at the news.
Chilean Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz hailed it as “the beginning of the end of the Cold War in the Americas”.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, whose predecessor Hugo Chavez was a close ally of Fidel Castro, said it was a “moral victory” and “victory for Fidel”.
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said increased US engagement in Cuba in the future should “encourage real and lasting reforms for the Cuban people”.
Canadian PM Stephen Harper, whose country never broke off ties with Cuba, welcomed what he called the “overdue development”.
However, the move was not applauded by everyone, with dozens of Cubans living in exile in the US state of Florida protesting after the announcement on December 17.
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Marco Rubio slammed the deal as “inexplicable”, adding that it did nothing to address the issues of Cuba’s political system and human rights record.
As part of the deal, US contractor Alan Gross, 65, was released from Cuban prison in return for three Cubans held in the US.
President Barack Obama said the US was looking to open an embassy in Havana in the coming months.
Officials said that Barack Obama and Fidel Castro spoke by telephone on December 16 for nearly an hour – the first presidential-level talks between the two nations since Cuba’s 1959 revolution.
In exchange for Alan Gross, who was in poor health, and an unnamed American intelligence officer, Washington released three members of the so-called “Cuban Five” who were serving lengthy sentences for espionage.
Alan Gross’s five-year imprisonment had undermined previous attempts to thaw diplomatic relations between the two countries.
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President Barack Obama will sign a bill imposing new Russian sanctions despite reservations, the White House has announced.
The bill – which primarily sanctions Russia’s defense industries – passed with overwhelming support in Congress.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the bill sent “a confusing message to our allies” but President Barack Obama will sign it because it “preserves flexibility”.
The Russian ruble has lost half its value this year amid lower oil prices and Western sanctions.
The currency went into free-fall in trading on December 16.
The bill would also give Barack Obama the authority to provide lethal and non-lethal military assistance to Ukraine, but not require him to do so.
The US and European powers have sanctioned Russia previously over the country’s annexation of Crimea and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Secretary of State John Kerry, who met Russia’s foreign minister in Rome, said: “These sanctions could be lifted in a matter of weeks or days, depending on the choices that President Putin takes.”
However, John Kerry said Russia had made “constructive” moves in recent days.
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President Barack Obama has written a line of computer code to help animate a character from Frozen animated movie.
Barack Obama joined a group of pupils taking part in the “Hour of Code” project, a 60-minute introduction to computer science set up by the group code.org.
A drive to widen access to introductory computer science lessons in schools across the US was announced on December 8.
“While no-one is born a computer scientist, becoming a computer scientist isn’t as scary as it sounds,” Barack Obama said in a YouTube video.
“With hard work and a little math and science, anyone can do it.”
More than 48 million people signed up to get involved with Computer Science Education Week, currently running in the US, the president added.
“Don’t just consume things, create things,” Barack Obama said.
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Prince William has met President Barack Obama at the White House as part of a three-day visit.
The talks were held in the Oval Office, in advance of delivering a speech to the World Bank on wildlife crime.
During the speech, Prince William described the illegal wildlife trade as “one of the most insidious forms of corruption and criminality in the world today”.
Meanwhile, Kate Middleton visited a New York children’s centre.
Prince William and Kate Middleton arrived in New York on Sunday night, with the prince travelling to Washington alone on Monday.
At the White House, Prince William joked with Barack Obama about the birth of Prince George, saying: “The excitement of the event and everything else was just chaos.”
He added that he expects a “busy year” in 2015, when Kate Middleton is due to give birth to the royal couple’s second child.
Barack Obama said the prince’s work to protect endangered wildlife was “very important”.
Later, in his speech at the World Bank, Prince William said: “In my view, one of the most insidious forms of corruption and criminality in the world today is the illegal wildlife trade.”
He attacked those who “loot our planet to feed mankind’s ignorant craving for exotic pets, trinkets, cures and ornaments derived from the world’s vanishing and irreplaceable species”.
Prince William founded the umbrella organization United for Wildlife to try to preserve the planet’s most endangered animals and habitats.
The Duke of Cambridge has been the royal patron of Tusk since 2005. The charity supports projects in 17 African countries, aimed at protecting wildlife and alleviating poverty.
Before starting at St Andrews University, Prince William went on a gap year, some of which was spent in Africa learning about its wildlife and game conservation.
Paying tribute to his father, Prince Charles, and his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, he said: “They helped to bring about a revolution in attitudes towards our natural environment.”
He added: “From them, I learned that our relation to nature and wildlife goes to the heart of our identity as human beings. From our sheer survival, to our appreciation of beauty and our connection to all other living things.
“Seen in this light, the extinction of any of the world’s species of animals is a loss to all humanity.”
Prince William said wildlife crime “goes to the heart of our security”, “distorts economic development” and “fuels sources of conflict”.
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Prince William will meet President Barack Obama at the Oval Office on December 8, the White House has announced.
The meeting is part of a three-day trip to the US east coast with Kate Middleton, including Prince William’s first visit to Washington.
The Duke of Cambridge is expected to give a speech at the World Bank on combating illegal wildlife trafficking.
Barack Obama has welcomed the prince’s work against what he called “a devastating environmental problem”.
The White House press secretary said the issue was also a “national security threat”.
Speaking about Prince William’s trip to America, he added that it “underscores the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom”.
In February, Prince Charles and Prince William attended an international conference held in London where a declaration was signed on fighting the illegal trade in wildlife.
While Prince William attends events in Washington, Kate Middleton will join Chirlane McCray – writer and wife of New York mayor Bill De Blasio – on a visit to a local child development centre.
Prince William previously met President Barack Obama when he travelled to London for a state visit in 2011.
The royals will also attend events in support of organizations including their Royal Foundation, which supports the welfare of service personnel and young people.
Prince William and Kate Middleton’s engagements include promoting sustainable conservation, young people’s mental health and supporting disadvantaged young people.
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Former Pentagon official Ashton Carter has been nominated by President Barack Obama as new defense secretary replacing Chuck Hagel who resigned last month.
Ashton Carter was previously the Pentagon’s chief arms buyer and an assistant secretary of defense under former President Bill Clinton.
His appointment to the post now requires approval from the Republican-led US Senate.
Ashton Carter received a doctorate in theoretical physics from Oxford.
“We face no shortage of challenges to our national security,” Barack Obama said on December 5, praising Ashton Carter’s more than 30 years of service.
“[He] is going to be critical to all these efforts.”
Ashton Carter called the nomination an “honor and a privilege”, and pledged to Barack Obama his “most candid” strategic and military advice.
Chuck Hagel quit after two years in the job, reportedly under pressure to go.
Following word of his resignation in November, Chuck Hagel called manning the post his life’s “greatest privilege”.
Absent from the nomination announcement at the White House, Chuck Hagel released a statement calling Ashton Carter a “patriot and a leader”, adding he “strongly” supports the nomination.
Vietnam war veteran and former Republican senator Chuck Hagel, 68, will stay on as secretary until Ashton Carter is confirmed.
Chuck Hagel was reportedly sharply critical of the US strategy against Islamic State (ISIS) and in relation to the Syria regime.
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President Barack Obama has again called for Congress to approve $6 billion in emergency aid to fight the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
Barack Obama made the plea on a visit to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where he congratulated scientists on work towards a vaccine.
According to the WHO, 6,055 people have died in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
The medical charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), has again strongly criticized the international response.
It described it as patchy and slow, with the job of tackling the crisis largely left to doctors, nurses and charity organizations.
The MSF report said foreign governments – notably the UK in Sierra Leone and most recently China in Liberia – were continuing to build Ebola treatment centers.
However, these were sometimes in the wrong places and using under-qualified local staff.
Barack Obama said the strategy to fight Ebola was “beginning to show results”.
“We’re seeing some progress, but the fight is not even close to being over,” he said.
“Every hotspot is an ember that if not contained can become a new fire, so we cannot let down our guard even for a minute. And we can’t just fight this epidemic, we have to extinguish it.”
The president said it was encouraging to see declining infection rates in Liberia and called progress in vaccine research “exciting”.
He urged Congress to give a “good Christmas present” to the world by approving $6 billion in emergency funding.
Congress is at work on a massive spending bill, but Ebola legislation has become embroiled in political partisanship.
Conservative members of Congress are expected to challenge Barack Obama’s appeal for funds in response to the president’s recent controversial executive actions on immigration, helping more than four million illegal immigrants.
Meanwhile, the White House said that the US was better prepared to deal with an outbreak of Ebola at home, and efforts to battle it in West Africa were progressing.
A network of 35 hospitals across the US is ready to treat Ebola patients and the number of labs used for testing the virus has increased from 13 to 42.
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President Barack Obama has asked Congress to approve $263 million to improve police training, pay for body cameras and restore trust in policing.
Barack Obama asked Congress for the funds after a week of nationwide protests over perceived policing injustices.
Ferguson in Missouri was rocked by riots after a grand jury decided not to charge a white police officer in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man.
Protests spread across the US and a mass walkout was held on December 1.
Students and workers held a lunchtime protest in several cities to highlight the issue.
“This is not a problem just of Ferguson, Missouri. This is a national problem, “ Barack Obama said.
The president spoke after a day of meetings with mayors, civil rights leaders and law enforcement officials at the White House.
They discussed a program that currently provides redundant US military tactical gear to local police departments, free of charge.
Barack Obama said he has asked federal agencies for recommendations to ensure the program is not building a “militarized culture” in domestic police forces.
Police in Ferguson, Missouri, were criticized for being heavy-handed in dealing with protests sparked by the shooting of Michael Brown in August.
The funds requested by Barack Obama would be spread over three years and some of the money will go towards purchasing 50,000 body cameras for police officers as well as resources to reform law enforcement departments.
Body cameras can provide evidence of encounters between police and civilians, particularly in disputed cases such as the Ferguson shooting.
The president said the stories of discrimination that young people had told him at the White House on December 1 “violate my belief about what America can do”.
Barack Obama also unveiled a taskforce on modern policing, to be chaired by Philadelphia police commissioner Charles Ramsey.
Also on Monday, a commission tasked with making recommendations on issues stemming from the fatal shooting has convened in Ferguson.
The 16-member panel, stood up by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, will consider changes in areas including public interaction with law enforcement and community stability.
The officer who shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Darren Wilson, resigned from the force over the weekend.
The decision not to charge Darren Wilson days earlier triggered a nationwide debate over relations between black communities and law enforcement.
The policeman said he had feared for his life.
Michael Brown’s supporters said the teenager was attempting to surrender when he was shot. Some witnesses said the 18-year-old, who was unarmed, had his hands up.
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First daughters Malia and Sasha Obama have been called disrespectful and classless by Republican Elizabeth Lauten for their attitude and clothes at this year’s Thanksgiving turkey pardoning ceremony.
Elizabeth Lauten, communications director for Republican congressman Stephen Fincher, made her comments in a Facebook post.
Her comments were heavily criticized and subsequently deleted.
Elizabeth Lauten has apologized for her “hurtful words”.
She attacked President Barack Obama’s girls over their choice of short skirts for the annual turkey pardoning event at the White House, and also for looking bored.
Malia, 16, and Sasha, 13, stood next to President Barack Obama during the ceremony.
Elizabeth Lauten said that the girls should “try showing a little class. At least respect the part you play”.
“Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar,” she added.
Elizabeth Lauten’s comment caused outrage on social media, amid accusations that she was “shaming” teenage girls.
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In a recent interview, President Barack Obama has said that Hillary Clinton would be a “great president” if she decided to run for the White House in 2016.
Barack Obama told ABC News Hillary Clinton was not “going to agree with me on everything”, which could be a welcome break for voters after his eight years in office.
Hillary Clinton, 67, lost the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination campaign to Barack Obama.
She is expected to announce whether she will run again in the early 2015.
President Barack Obama said he talked regularly with Hillary Clinton, describing her as a “friend”.
He said a number of possible Democratic contenders for the top job would do well, but Hillary Clinton was the only one he mentioned by name.
He added the wife of former President Bill Clinton would make a “formidable” and “great” president.
At the same time, Barack Obama acknowledged that Hillary Clinton, who had served in his administration as secretary of state, might do things differently from him.
“One of the benefits of running for president is you can stake out your own positions, and have a clean slate, a fresh start.”
Barack Obama also admitted that voters would want what he described as a “new car smell” in the 2016 elections, hinting that he may not have a high-profile role in the campaign.
Hillary Clinton played a prominent role in last month’s mid-term elections, in which the Republicans took control of the Senate.
For two months, Hillary Clinton criss-crossed the country campaigning hard to help Democrats in tight races.
Hilary Clinton her husband, ex-President Bill Clinton, were the surrogates every Democrat wanted while President Barack Obama was spurned.
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President Barack Obama will announce his plans to use overriding executive powers to enact major changes to immigration policy.
Barack Obama will unveil his strategy in a televised address on Thursday night, he said in a video posted on Facebook.
The action could lift the threat of deportation for up to five million undocumented migrants.
Republicans in Congress say such action would be beyond Barack Obama’s authority and have vowed to fight the initiative.
Following the announcement, Congressman Paul Ryan warned the president’s immigration order was a “partisan bomb” that will sour his relations with Congress.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on November 19 that the aim was to make illegal immigrants “fully contributing” members of society, for the good of the country.
It is thought the president will extend his “deferred action” plan (DACA) which allows young adults who were brought to the US illegally as children to stay and work.
The plan is to extend that right to more young people and to more parents of children who are US citizens or legal residents.
The number of those affected by the suggested policy could be as high as five million, out of a total of 11 million illegal immigrants.
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The death of Abdul-Rahman Kassig, whose killing was shown in a video posted by Islamic State (ISIS), President Barack Obama has confirmed.
Barack Obama called the act “pure evil” and offered his condolences to the family of Abdul-Rahman Kassig, 26.
Abdul-Rahman Kassig, also known as Peter Kassig, was abducted in Syria last year.
The video, authenticated by the White House, shows a masked man standing over Abdul-Rahman Kassig’s severed head.
It also shows a beheading of 18 Syrians identified as army officers and pilots.
The president praised Peter Kassig as a humanitarian and said he was “taken from us in an act of pure evil by a terrorist group that the world rightly associates with inhumanity”.
“Today we offer our prayers and condolences to the parents and family of Abdul-Rahman Kassig, also known to us as Peter,” he added.
Barack Obama’s comments came as he flew back to the US from Australia where he was attending the G20 summit.
Peter Kassig was a former US Army Ranger who served in Iraq.
He later trained as an emergency medical technician and founded the Special Emergency Response and Assistance (SERA) organization, helping to supply camps on both sides of the Syrian border.
Peter Kassig was undertaking a project for SERA when he was captured in October 2013 while travelling to eastern Syria.
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The G20 summit in Brisbane has been closed by Australia’s PM Tony Abbott who detailed economic pledges agreed by world leaders.
The leaders agreed to boost their economies by at least 2.1% by 2018, adding $2 trillion to global economies.
Much of the summit focused on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s position on the crisis in Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin faced fierce criticism and left the meeting before it ended, but said the summit was “constructive”.
He said he was leaving before the release of the official communiqué, citing the long flight to home to Russia and the need for sleep.
Australia, as host of the meeting, had sought to keep the focus on economic issues, but the issues of climate change and the conflict in Ukraine attracted significant attention.
President Barack Obama met European leaders on November 16 to discuss a co-ordinated response to what they see as Russia’s destabilization of Ukraine.
Barack Obama told reporters Vladimir Putin was “violating international law, providing heavy arms to the separatists in Ukraine” and violating the Minsk agreement.
He said the “economic isolation” of Russia would continue unless Vladimir Putin changed course.
In a television interview on November 15, Vladimir Putin called for an end to sanctions against Russia, saying they harmed the world economy as well as Russia.
The Kremlin denies sending military forces or heavy weapons to pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine.
During the summit, Canadian PM Stephen Harper and British PM David Cameron also sharply criticized Vladimir Putin.
World leaders agreed to plans drawn up by finance ministers from G20 countries in February, known as the Brisbane Action Plan, to boost their collective GDP growth by at least 2%.
The statement also agreed to take strong, effective action on climate change, following pressure from the US and European leaders.
G20 leaders also released a statement in which they vowed to do all they could to “extinguish” the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
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On November 14, the House of Representatives passed legislation authorizing construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline by a decisive vote of 252 to 161.
However, President Barack Obama is signaling he is increasingly skeptical of the project.
While the White House has not issued a formal veto threat, it has indicated it is prepared to reject the House bill; press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on November 13 it has recommended vetoes against similar bills in the past. And barring an extraordinary legislative maneuver forcing his hand next Congress, according to individuals familiar with the administration’s thinking, Barack Obama is likely to reject a final permit when the matter comes before him.
Republicans have identified Keystone as one of their top legislative priorities, and it enjoys the support of several major business groups along with the oil industry.
TransCanada chief executive Russ Girling issued a statement on November 5 saying that the Keystone XL pipeline “has always enjoyed bipartisan support and is a great example of an issue where both parties can work together to create jobs and enhance energy security for the United States. After six years, it is time to break the gridlock on Keystone and move forward”.
Russ Girling said that pipelines “remain the safest and most efficient way to move large volumes of Canadian and American oil to US refineries. Keystone XL will help push oil out of US refineries from countries and parts of the world that are often openly hostile to America’s interests or values – and that benefits all of us”.
Senator Mike Johanns (R-Nebraska), one of the pipeline’s fiercest congressional backers, said he was “very, very skeptical” Barack Obama would grant a permit to the project’s sponsor TransCanada if the question was “left to a presidential decision”.
Some unions, including LIUNA and the International Union of Operating Engineers, have endorsed the project as a means of generating high-paying, short-term construction jobs.
However, environmentalists have framed the 1,700-mile pipeline, which would ship bitumen that is extracted though an energy-intensive process in Canada’s oil sands, as a referendum on the president’s commitment to addressing climate change.
In June 2013, Barack Obama said that he would reject the project if it would “significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution,” a pledge he repeated again last week in a press conference he held after the midterm elections.
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President Barack Obama has defended plans to use his overriding executive powers to push through changes to the US immigration system.
Barack Obama said Congress had been given ample opportunity to come up with its own plan but had failed to act.
Republicans in Congress say such action would be beyond Barack Obama’s authority.
His remarks follow media reports he plans to extend protection from deportation, potentially affecting as many as five million immigrants.
At a news briefing during a visit to Myanmar, Barack Obama said he had given the House of Representatives more than a year to come up with an immigration bill but they had failed to do so.
The Senate passed a far-reaching immigration bill in 2013, but the House has not taken up the legislation.
“There has been ample opportunity for Congress to pass a bipartisan immigration bill that would strengthen our borders, improve the legal immigration system and lift millions of people out of the shadows,” he said.
“I said that if in fact Congress failed to act, I would use all the lawful authority I possess to try to make the system work better,” the president added.
“And that’s going to happen before the end of the year.”
Barack Obama added that as soon as Congress passed a bill he could sign, “any executive actions will be replaced”.
However, Republicans in Congress said the president should work with them.
“We’re going to fight the president tooth and nail if he continues down this path,” House Speaker John Boehner told reporters.
Mitch McConnell, the incoming Senate majority leader, urged the president to “work with us to try to find a way to improve our immigration system”.
Some Republicans are pushing for the budget bill to include a statement prohibiting “the use of appropriated funds for the president’s immigration machinations”.
Such a move could provoke a block by the Democrats, or a veto by the president, which in turn raises the risk of a government shutdown.
Unilateral action has been expected on immigration but details of what the president was considering were first reported this week in the New York Times and Fox News.
At the centre of the reports is a plan to extend Barack Obama’s “deferred action” plan, which was designed to protect young adults who were brought to the US illegally as children from being deported.
The plan is to include parents of children who are US citizens or legal residents.
The action is designed to prevent the break-up of families via deportations. The number of those affected by the suggested policy is based on how long an individual has lived in the US.
If the administration limits the “deferred action” to those who have lived in the US for more than 10 years, it would affect 2.5 million undocumented immigrants, experts estimate.
If the time limit is lowered to five years, it would stop deportations for as many as 3.3 million.
Other parts of the executive action reported by the media include: increasing the number of high-tech workers allowed to live and work in the US; an expansion of the existing deferred action plans that would move the cut-off date for children arriving to 2010; shift border security resources to the US southern border, according to reports.
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President Barack Obama has met Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon.
At a news briefing with the US president, Aung San Suu Kyi has said constitutional rules which bar her from running for president because her sons are half British are “unfair, unjust and undemocratic”.
She said the reform process in the once military-ruled nation had hit a “bumpy patch”.
Aung San Suu Kyi said it could be brought on track with international help.
President Barack Obama said the reforms were “by no means complete or irreversible”.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, moved from military to civilian rule in 2010 and is governed by a military-backed civilian administration.
Under Thein Sein, many political prisoners have been freed and media restrictions eased. The pro-democracy party of Aung San Suu Kyi, who spent years under house arrest, has rejoined the political fold and holds a small block of seats in parliament.
President Barack Obama has met Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon
Critics have warned that reforms have stalled in recent months, as all eyes turn to 2015 when the next general election will be held.
A clause in the new constitution states that anyone whose spouse or children are foreign citizens cannot run for the top job. Aung San Suu Kyi’s late husband was British and her two sons are British citizens.
Aung San Suu Kyi told reporters outside her home: “I always warn against over-optimism, because that could lead to complacency.
“Our reform process is going through a bumpy patch, but this bumpy patch is something we can negotiate with commitment, with help and understanding from our friends around the world.
“What we need is a healthy balance of optimism and pessimism.”
Barack Obama was in the Burmese capital, Nay Pyi Taw, on November 13 for an Asian summit where he held talks with President Thein Sein.
He said the process of reform was “by no means complete or irreversible” and added that the US “recognizes the challenges ahead and cannot be complacent”.
“I don’t understand a provision that would bar someone from running for president because of who their children are. That doesn’t make much sense to me,” he said.
Aung San Suu Kyi said the Burmese people supported the opposition’s call to amend the clause, but added: “I don’t think it’s because they want me to be president, but because they recognize it’s unfair, unjust and undemocratic.”
Her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won a landslide victory in the by-elections in 2012. It did not contest the November 2010 general election because of laws it said were unfair.
Barack Obama said he and Aung San Suu Kyi had discussed ways of bolstering Myanmar’s transition.
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