1 hour, 12 minutes ago
(AP) A decision by Switzerland to give a home to two Chinese Muslim brothers detained at Guantanamo Bay for nearly eight years could allow the Obama administration to avoid a difficult Supreme Court argument over whether a judge can order detainees released into the United States.The Swiss said Wednesday that they ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) First lady Michelle Obama isn't the first national leader to try to get America's kids off the couch. President Dwight D. Eisenhower tried more than 50 years ago, and it's been a losing battle since.Childhood obesity has been on the rise in recent decades, with 17 percent of children considered ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) The jokes about Barack Obama's close relationship with his teleprompter have been constant since he became president.Rush Limbaugh's poked fun at it on the radio. Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi bantered about it during an international summit. Obama himself skewered his affinity for the speaking crutch in an appearance before reporters.But ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) President Barack Obama says it's time for Democrats and Republicans to work hard because the American people "expect a seriousness of purpose that transcends petty politics."Talking to reporters at the White House, Obama said the country must get on a path that "sustains fiscal responsibility" and he said he wants ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) Even the White House's top spokesman is getting in on the act of mocking former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin for looking to talking points written on her palm during a speech to "tea party" activists.Robert Gibbs showed the words "hope" and "change" on his hand as he started ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) President Barack Obama is calling on lawmakers to stop blocking the confirmation of government appointees in the Senate by raising objections not related to their qualifications.In a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room Tuesday, Obama said he will consider making recess appointments if the Senate doesn't act on ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) President Barack Obama will be sticking around the White House today as Washington continues to dig out from its big snowfall, and prepares for another one expected to begin this afternoon.In the morning, Obama will sign a memorandum on childhood obesity in the Oval Office. It's become one of Michelle ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) Facing another wintry wallop, the White House decided to move a concert celebrating civil rights music from Wednesday to Tuesday to beat what could be a second crippling storm in a week.The White House announced that Wednesday's concert would be performed on Tuesday because of a coming storm. President Barack ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) First lady Michelle Obama says President Barack Obama "has done a phenomenal job," but that people have a right to criticize him.In an interview broadcast Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America," she said getting things accomplished in heavily politicized Washington is "a constant struggle."She said her husband has been staying ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) Michelle Obama on Tuesday unveiled "Let's Move" _ her national public awareness campaign against childhood obesity, a problem she says concerns her both as first lady and as a mom.One in three American children are overweight or obese, putting them at higher risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, high ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) President Barack Obama says he was saddened to hear of the death of Rep. John Murtha and called his fellow Democrat a steadfast advocate for the people of Pennsylvania for nearly 40 years.Obama on Monday called Murtha a devoted husband and a loving father who had a "tough-as-nails" reputation. The ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) The United States and the European Union are calling on Iran to end human rights abuses against its citizens.In a joint statement Monday, the U.S. and E.U. condemn the large scale detentions, mass trials and denial of the right to peaceful expression following last year's disputed presidential elections. They say ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) Federal workers may have the day off in the snow-covered nation's capital, but President Barack Obama still has meetings to attend.After he's handed his presidential and economic daily briefings Monday morning, Obama sits down with some senior advisers at the Oval Office.Later, he'll meet with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) By now, it is abundantly clear that Michelle Obama loves french fries.The first lady talks about this "guilty pleasure" all the time, trying to ward off any notion that she is a nutrition nanny even as she cajoles Americans to eat better.Now, her conversation with the public about the nation's ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) A look at some first ladies past and their causes:DOLLEY MADISONThe first first lady to take on a public project, Madison helped to found an orphanage for young girls, the Washington Female Orphans Asylum. She gave money to the project, donated a cow to provide the girls with fresh milk, ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) President Barack Obama said Sunday he has not ruled out a New York federal court trial for Sept. 11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, but he was taking into account the objections of the city's mayor and police commissioner.The Obama administration has come under withering attack, mainly from Republicans, for a ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) An exasperated White House newly committed to preaching partisan peace slammed Republicans for playing politics on national security and making ignorant allegations about the investigation into the Christmas airliner plot.Deputy national security adviser John Brennan complained Sunday that politicians, many of them Republicans, were unfairly criticizing the administration for partisan ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) President Barack Obama's top counterterrorism adviser says he's tired of lawmakers and others criticizing the administration's actions concerning the Christmas airliner plot.John Brennan says some in Washington are using national security as "political football" for partisan purposes. He says they're trying to micromanage the case with a "500-mile screwdriver" that ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) President Barack Obama's top counterterrorism adviser says the U.S. faces "serious and significant" cyberthreats that could compromise national security.John Brennan says the administration is taking steps to improve cybersecurity and looking at the matter from an espionage and terrorism point of view. He says national security is something that's at ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) President Barack Obama and the first lady are ready for some football.The first couple will host a Super Bowl party Sunday for lawmakers, Cabinet members and service members who were injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their families. That's if their guests can make it through the aftermath of a ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) President Barack Obama on Saturday sought to assure despondent Democrats he would not abandon his commitment to overhauling health care and would work to counter GOP challenges to their congressional dominance.At its winter meeting, a defiant Democratic Party worked to project a message of strength even as loyalists acknowledged the ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) Just a year after celebrating Barack Obama's inauguration, despondent Democrats on Saturday heard from their party leader who urged optimism in the face of Republicans' strong challenge to their congressional dominance.The president said political leaders must plot their way forward to November with an understanding of the economic difficulties Americans ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) President Barack Obama says it's time for Democrats and Republicans to work together to do what's right for the country.Obama tells Democratic activists that "we need to change the way we work with the other party."The president says Democrats can't solve all the nation's problems by themselves. He says Democrats ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) "Snowmageddon" _ that's what President Barack Obama calls the storm that's shut down Washington.His motorcade made it a few blocks through deserted streets so he could speak at the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting on Saturday.In his opening remarks, Obama thanked activists for being willing to brave the blizzard. The ...
1 hour, 13 minutes ago
(AP) The blizzard that draped the nation's capital in a blanket of white isn't keeping President Barack Obama from his appointed rounds.A convoy of SUVs has left the White House for a hotel just a few blocks away where Obama planned to speak to party activists at the winter meeting of ...
