Berlin: Summoning the harsh history of this once-divided city, President Barack Obama on Wednesday cautioned the US and Europe against "complacency" brought on by peace, pledging to cut America's deployed nuclear weapons by one-third if Cold War foe Russia does the same.
The US President also declared that his far-reaching surveillance programmes had saved lives on both sides of the Atlantic, as he sought to defend the controversial data-mining to skeptical Europeans.
Speaking against the soaring backdrop of the Brandenburg Gate, Obama said that "bold reductions" to the US and Russian nuclear forces were needed to move the two powers away from the war posture that continues to seed mistrust between their governments.
"We may not live in fear of nuclear annihilation, but as long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe," Obama said as he closed a three-day visit to Europe, his first trip to the continent since winning re-election....
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04:46 AM, Jun 20, 2013
Kabul: Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday his government would not join US peace talks with the Taliban and halted negotiations with Washington on a troop pact, underscoring the fragile nature of hopes for a negotiated peace in Afghanistan. The United States and the Taliban have said officials from both sides will meet in Doha, the capital of Qatar, on Thursday, in a step forward for a stuttering peace...
03:45 AM, Jun 20, 2013
Washington: The United States and the Taliban raised hopes on Tuesday for a negotiated peace in Afghanistan with commitments to meet this week after 12 years of bloody and costly war between American-led forces and the insurgents. The Taliban opened an office in Doha, the Qatari capital, on Tuesday to help restart talks and said it wanted a political solution that would bring about a just government and end foreign...
06:17 AM, Jun 19, 2013
Even as NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has said Barack Obama's failed promises led to the leaks, the US President has defended his government's policy, while appearing to champion freedom over security. ...
09:33 PM, Jun 18, 2013
An ice cream vendor in Northern Ireland has created flavours for the G8 summit, inspired by world leaders. It is green tea ice cream for Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, black forest gateau for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, eton mess for British Prime Minister. For US President Barack Obama, it is a combination of a couple of different flavors. There is snickers, chocolate, and nutella and also toasted pecans and almonds. ...
04:09 PM, Jun 18, 2013
Enniskillen (Northern Ireland): Russian President Vladimir Putin faced further isolation on the second day of a G8 summit on Tuesday as world leaders lined up to pressure him into toning down his support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Following an icy encounter between the Kremlin chief and US President Barack Obama late on Monday, the G8 leaders will seek to find resolution to a war that has prompted powers across...
07:34 AM, Jun 18, 2013
Washington: After authorizing US weapons for rebels in Syria, President Barack Obama faces difficult talks on ending the civil war there when he meets next week with the Syrian government's most powerful ally: Russian President Vladimir Putin. The pair will hold their first private, face-to-face meeting in a year on Monday at the G8 conference in Northern Ireland, the White House said on Friday. Obama will focus on finding common...
07:28 AM, Jun 15, 2013
Ankara: The United States is considering a no-fly zone in Syria, potentially its first direct intervention into the two-year-old civil war, Western diplomats said on Friday, after the White House said Syria had crossed a "red line" by using nerve gas. After months of deliberation, President Barack Obama's administration said on Thursday it would now arm rebels, having obtained proof the Syrian government used chemical weapons against fighters trying to...
06:36 AM, Jun 15, 2013
Washington: Republican Senator Rand Paul on Thursday encouraged Americans to be part of a class-action lawsuit against the US government for its vast domestic surveillance program his latest salvo against the Obama administration's national security measures. Paul, a Tea Party favorite who is seen as a contender for the 2016 presidential race, announced his plans at a news conference that brought together the American Civil Liberties Union and outspoken Republicans...
06:41 AM, Jun 14, 2013
Washington: The US Senate voted on Tuesday to begin debate and amendments on a historic immigration bill, burying a procedural roadblock that opponents regularly use to delay or even kill legislation. With November's election results indicating broad support for updating the country's immigration laws, even some senators who have expressed opposition to the Senate bill voted to allow the debate to go ahead. By a vote of 82-15, the Senate...
06:43 AM, Jun 12, 2013
Uncontrolled fear is the greatest threat to the sanctity of liberty and freedoms that mankind has struggled to attain for centuries. Terror incidents that shock ...
02:57 AM, Jun 12, 2013
Washington: President Barack Obama is wishing for a "speedy recovery" for ailing former South African President Nelson Mandela. The 94-year-old Mandela is currently in a Johannesburg hospital, receiving treatment for a recurring lung infection. White House spokesman Jay Carney says Obama, the first lady and everyone at the White House are concerned about Mandela's health. Carney says they all wish Mandela a "speedy recovery." Obama and first lady Michelle Obama...
01:42 AM, Jun 12, 2013
New York: The Obama administration will scrap age restrictions on the sale of emergency contraception pills, making the morning-after pill available to women and girls without a prescription. The US Department of Justice said in a letter on Monday that it would comply with a court's ruling to allow unrestricted sales of Plan B One-Step, withdrawing its appeal on the matter. The move closes a battle over the pill that...
08:05 PM, Jun 11, 2013
Washington: Majority of Americans seem to back Obama administration's controversial secret surveillance programme to facilitate terrorism investigations even if personal privacy is compromised, according to a new survey. A solid 62 per cent Americans said the federal government's investigations for possible terrorist threats were more important, even if that intrudes on personal privacy, the national survey released on Monday by the Pew Research Centre and the Washington Post found. A...
05:27 PM, Jun 11, 2013
Washington: President Barack Obama on Monday will nominate longtime adviser Jason Furman to be his new chief White House economist, an administration official said. Furman, who will replace economist Alan Krueger as chair of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), has a Ph.D in economics from Harvard University and has advised Obama since his 2008 election campaign. Furman has been instrumental in formulating administration policies on taxes, the...
04:39 PM, Jun 10, 2013
Rancho Mirage: US President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, launched straight into discussing thorny issues at an informal summit and may delve deeper when they meet again on Saturday. The two-day talks at a desert retreat near Palm Springs, California, was meant to be an opportunity for Obama and Xi to get to know each other, Chinese and US officials have said, and to inject some warmth...
06:31 AM, Jun 09, 2013
Washington: Welcoming "peaceful rise" of China as a world power, US President Barack Obama on Saturday greeted his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at Palm Springs in California for a two day summit, with both leaders calling for a new approach to ties between Washington and Beijing. "The United States welcomes the continuing peaceful rise of China as a world power and that, in fact, it is in the United States'...
10:42 AM, Jun 08, 2013
US President Barack Obama defends the internet snooping programme saying they are keeping a tab on websites like Google and Facebook to identify those with terrorist links. ...
08:11 AM, Jun 08, 2013
Rancho Mirage: President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping (shee jihn-peeng) have opened two days of meetings with a handshake at a California retreat. Obama is welcoming Xi to a sprawling desert estate for talks on high-stakes issues, including cybersecurity and North Korea's nuclear threats. It's the first meeting between the two leaders since Xi took office in March. Obama and Xi, in suit coats and white shirts but...
07:58 AM, Jun 08, 2013
Wahington: A secret US intelligence program to collect emails that is at the heart of an uproar over government surveillance helped foil an Islamist militant plot to bomb the New York City subway system in 2009, US government sources said on Friday. The sources said Representative Mike Rogers, chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, was talking about a plot hatched by Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan-born US resident, when...
07:17 AM, Jun 08, 2013
