Tag: President Barack Obama

• Saturday, June 20th 2015 - 08:59 UTC

  US Lower House approves controversial trade bill: Senate next hurdle

  

  The United States House of Representatives approved a controversial trade bill backed by President Obama, just a week after Democrats voted it down. The bill gives the president the right to negotiate global trade deals, with Congress only able to approve or reject a deal but not change it.

• Saturday, June 13th 2015 - 07:34 UTC

  Democrats strike stunning blow to President Obama's free-trade agenda

  

  The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday dealt a stunning blow to President Barack Obama’s free-trade agenda. A large number of Democrats in the House defied their fellow Democratic president to defeat a critical part of a legislative package, Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), which would have provided aid to US workers who might lose their jobs if a major Asia-Pacific trade agreement is forged.

• Wednesday, June 10th 2015 - 06:44 UTC

  “Football is a game, but is also a massive business” and people want it to operate with integrity

  

  President Barack Obama weighed in on the deepening corruption scandal involving world soccer's governing body, saying it was essential that the sport's integrity be ensured.

• Monday, June 8th 2015 - 08:51 UTC

  Obama presses Cameron on defense expenditure and remaining in the EU

  

  Barack Obama has pressed David Cameron to maintain Britain's commitment to meeting the NATO target of spending 2% of GDP on defense. In talks at the G7 summit in Germany, the US President also said he was “looking forward” to Britain remaining in the European Union.

• Wednesday, June 3rd 2015 - 08:07 UTC

  Obama signs bill that limits phone data collection by government

  

  The US Senate has voted to limit the government's ability to collect phone data, a policy that had been in place since the attacks of 11 September 2001. The USA Freedom Act extends the government's ability to collect large amounts of data, but with restrictions.

• Saturday, May 30th 2015 - 00:48 UTC

  One step closer: US drops Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism

  

  The United States on Friday formally dropped Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, the US State Department said in a statement. The removal of Cuba from the US terrorism list eliminates an obstacle toward restoring diplomatic ties between the United States and the communist-led Caribbean island state after 54 years.

• Sunday, May 24th 2015 - 08:13 UTC

  Obama and Putin congratulate Cristina Fernandez and Argentina on 25 May, National Day

  

  US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have sent letters to President Cristina Fernández to salute the head of state and congratulate the Argentine people on the anniversary of the May Revolution.

• Friday, May 22nd 2015 - 08:39 UTC

  “Obama would relish the opportunity to visit Cuba and Havana in particular”

  

  President Obama is looking to travel to Cuba’s capitol city of Havana before his tenure ends, White Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Thursday, the same day a Florida bank announced that the State Department has given them permission to make diplomatic transactions between the two nations.

• Tuesday, May 19th 2015 - 10:03 UTC

  Obama bans supply of military-style equipments to local police forces

  

  President Barack Obama has banned the US government from giving certain kinds of military-style equipment to local police forces. The announcement follows criticism that police were too heavy handed in dealing with protests in Ferguson, Missouri, that turned violent last summer.

• Thursday, May 14th 2015 - 08:34 UTC

  Rousseff expected at the White House next June 30: a long delayed bilateral agenda waits

  

  Next June 30 Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will visit Washington D.C. to meet with President Barack Obama, a highly anticipated event given tensions between the two governments over the past two years.