Tag: Obama

Obama urges Duterte to do crime “war” the right way, as Phl president speaks out against US military killings

  VIENTIANE, Laos (AFP) — US President Barack Obama urged Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte Thursday to conduct his crime war “the right way”, as the pair clashed at an Asian summit over the crackdown that has claimed 3,000 lives. The showdown was a fitting climax to a brutal few days of diplomacy that began with the famously acid-tongued Duterte becoming heated up and making expletives that led the White House to cancel a scheduled bilateral meeting between the two leaders. […]

U.S. President forges closer ties with ASEAN allies in last meeting

  (Reuters) — U.S. President Barack Obama held a meeting with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders for the last time on Thursday (September 8) and reiterated U.S. commitment to rebalancing Asia. Obama became the first incumbent U.S. president to visit Laos this week for a series of meetings with the heads of state of the 10-nation regional bloc. “I’ve now met with leaders of ASEAN eight times, visited Southeast Asia more than any […]

Obama meets Duterte briefly before ASEAN gala dinner

    UNITED  States President Barack Obama met briefly with Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, their two governments said. The encounter took place just before a dinner during a summit of regional leaders in Laos, officials indicated. “They met at the holding room and they were the last people to leave the holding room. I can’t say how long they met,” Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay, travelling with Duterte, told reporters shortly afterwards. “I’m very […]

U.S. says relationship with Philippines remains “rock solid”

  (Eagle News) — The United States said the relationship between the US and the Philippines remained “rock solid” as a US official stressed that a “very close working relationship” between the two countries will continue. This was despite the cancellation of a bilateral meeting between US President Barack Obama and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte during the ASEAN Summit in Laos on Tuesday (September 6) Obama’s deputy National Security director Ben Rhodes told reporters the […]

Duterte regrets Obama comments came across as personal attack

  (REUTERS)  The Philippines said on Tuesday that President Rodrigo Duterte regretted comments he made about U.S. President Barack Obama came across as a personal attack and led to the cancellation of a meeting between the leaders of the allied nations. “President Duterte explained that the press reports that President Obama would ‘lecture’ him on extrajudicial killings led to his strong comments, which in turn elicited concern,” the Philippines said in a statement released at […]

Obama cancels meeting with Duterte

  By Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Barack Obama has cancelled a planned meeting with Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte, the White House said Monday, after his Asian ally launched a foul-mouthed tirade against him. Duterte called Obama a “son of a whore” hours earlier, vowing he would not allow the American leader to lecture him on human rights. “President Obama will not be holding a bilateral meeting with President Duterte of […]

Forget US politics, rally around Olympians: Obama

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Barack Obama on Saturday urged Americans to set aside political differences and unite to support the US athletes at the Summer Olympics under way in Rio de Janeiro. Obama, in his weekly Saturday morning radio and online address, praised Team USA’s diversity and urged Americans to appreciate “the peaceful competition and sportsmanship” of the event. “Team USA reminds the world why America always sets the gold standard: We’re a […]

Obama says money to fight Zika virus is ‘running out’

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – Money to fight the outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika virus in the United States is running out, US President Barack Obama said Thursday, calling the situation “critical” and urging lawmakers to act. Obama spoke to reporters at the Pentagon, where he said the US government is taking the news of 15 cases of Zika being locally transmitted in Florida “extremely seriously.” “As our public health experts have been warning for […]

Trump talk of rigged election ‘ridiculous,’ says Obama

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – by Michael Mathes President Barack Obama on Thursday dismissed as “ridiculous” Republican White House candidate Donald Trump’s assertion that the US election in November will be rigged in Democrat Hillary Clinton’s favor. “If Mr. Trump is suggesting there is a conspiracy theory that is being propagated across the country, including in places like Texas, where it is typically not Democrats in charge of voting booths, that is ridiculous,” Obama told […]

Obama, Clinton scold Trump over proposed Muslim ban

  (REUTERS)   Democratic President Barack Obama denounced Donald Trump for his proposed U.S. ban on Muslim immigrants on Tuesday, joining Hillary Clinton in portraying the Republican presidential candidate as unfit for the White House. Clearly annoyed, Obama responded to Trump’s proposed suspension of immigration from countries with a “history of terrorism” after Sunday’s killing of 49 people in an Orlando, Florida, nightclub. Obama and Clinton, the Democrat he has endorsed to succeed him in a […]

Gunman in worst U.S. massacre described as ‘quiet,’ with few friends

  (REUTERS) The photo from Omar Mateen’s high-school yearbook is hardly remarkable – a toothy, dimpled smile with a peach fuzz mustache below a mop of black hair. But his transformation from high-school football player to perpetrator of America’s worst mass shooting raises questions over whether authorities, and the security company where he worked, missed red flags over the depth of his apparent sympathies with Muslim extremists and whether the United States has a clear […]

Obama calls Orlando nightclub shooting an attack on all Americans

  (Reuters)  President Barack Obama on Sunday described the worst mass shooting in U.S. history as “an act of terror” and “an act of hate,” saying the massacre of 50 people at a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida was an attack on all Americans. “Today as Americans we grieve the brutal murder, a horrific massacre of dozens of innocent people,” he said in a statement at the White House. “Although it is still early […]