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Obama ‘will not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb’ at the end of the second world war as he makes first visit to city by a sitting US president Barack Obama’s historic visit to Hiroshima should not be interpreted as an apology, his spokesman said on Tuesday in the wake of the announcement that Obama would become the first sitting president to visit the site where the US dropped an atomic bomb in 1945, killing an estimated 140,000 people in the final days of the second world war. Asked if the trip might be seen as an apology, the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, replied: “If people do interpret it that way, they’ll be interpreting it wrongly.” Earnest declined to comment on the morality of America’s decision to drop the atomic bomb, for which there have been calls for the country to apologise. He said: “The president intends to visit to send a much more forward-looking signal for his ambition of realising the goal of a planet without nuclear weapons.” Continue re...

The US president ‘will not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb’ at the end of the second world war, national security adviser Ben Rhodes says Barack Obama has announced he will visit Hiroshima, Japan, becoming the first sitting president to visit the site where the US dropped an atomic bomb in 1945, killing an estimated 140,000 people the final days of the second world war. In a statement the White House confirmed the visit, saying Obama’s visit will “highlight his continued commitment to pursuing peace and security in a world without nuclear weapons”. Obama will be joined with prime minister Shinzo Abe, who is hosting the G7 summit in Ise-Shima later this month. Earlier this month White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the president does not believe the US should apologize for its use of atom bombs on Japan in 1945, a point reiterated by national security adviser Ben Rhodes on Tuesday. Obama “will not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb at the end of World ...

Barack Obama is taking executive action to close loopholes used by foreigners in US, White House announces Barack Obama is launching a crackdown on international tax evasion in response to recent disclosures in the Panama Papers revealing the scale of offshore financial activity. In a series of initiatives announced by the White House on Thursday night, the president will take executive action to close loopholes used by foreigners in the US and call on Congress to pass legislation Though the later steps may hit political obstacles in an election year, the package of measures are among the most comprehensive response yet to the Panama Papers revelations, disclosed by a consortium of international journalists including The Guardian.  “In recent weeks, the disclosure of the so-called ‘Panama Papers’ – millions of leaked documents reportedly revealing the use of anonymous offshore shell companies – has brought the issues of illicit financial activity and tax evasion into the spotl...

The president mocks the billionaire’s foreign policy and business credentials and pokes fun at himself and other politicians Barack Obama has delivered a scathing satirical take-down of Donald Trump, lampooning the Republican frontrunner’s foreign policy and business credentials, and ending his final White House correspondents’ dinner by literally dropping the mic and saying: “Obama out.” In the traditional tongue-in-cheek address to the Washington press corps, the president also had fun at the expense of fellow Democrats Bernie Sanders, who was present, and Hillary Clinton, whose efforts to appeal to younger voters were mercilessly mocked. Although he did not linger on Trump for as long as some had expected during the half-hour speech, especially those who recall the correspondents’ dinner in 2011 where he roasted the celebrity tycoon as he sat in the room, Obama did deliver some zingers. Continue reading... Published By - Theguardian.com - Tech News, Politics news, UK and world ...

US president urges continent to not give in to ‘fears over security and inequality’ by creating new barriers The world needs a strong, democratic and united Europe, Barack Obama said on Monday, to guard against rising intolerance and authoritarianism within the European Union and across the globe. In an ambitious and sweeping speech urging modern Europe to remember its emergence from division, war and hatred, the US president said: “We cannot allow fears about security and inequality to undermine our commitment to universal values. That is a false comfort.” Speaking in Germany on the final day of his tour of Europe and the Middle East, Obama had a blunt message for the continent. “Perhaps you need an outsider to remind you of the magnitude of what you have achieved from the ruins of the second world war.” Patrick Wintour in Hanover Published By - Theguardian.com - Sports New, LifeStyle News, Politics news, UK and world political comment and analysis: Monday 25 April 2016 13.41 ...

US president to meet Merkel, Hollande, Renzi and Cameron over EU naval patrols in Libyan waters to stem flow of migrants US president Barack Obama said Angela Merkel was on the right side of history with her management of the refugee crisis and praised the German chancellor as a steady and trustworthy ally with a really good sense of humour, as he embarked on the final phase of the last official European tour of his presidency. Lauding Merkel for taking “very tough politics not just to express a humanitarian concern but also a practical concern”, Obama said: “She is giving a voice to the kinds of principles that bring people together rather than divide them.” But beneath the smiles and mutual compliments lurked a range of pressing global issues that the two leaders will try to address at a G5 meeting with British prime minister, David Cameron, the French president, François Hollande , and the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, in Hanover on Monday afternoon. Philip Oltermann ...

Six people who heard the US president speak in London give their views REBECCA BUNCE 29, POLICY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS MANAGER FOR A CHARITY, LONDON Bunce was praised at the event by Obama for her “fight for people with disabilities and against violence against women”. “I think that when friends see friends making big decisions, it’s natural for them to offer advice. It is no surprise that Obama has spoken out about the EU. Both the leave and remain campaigns have talked about the referendum as the UK working out where we sit in a globalised world. We are deciding what we want our future international relationships to look like. So it seems pretty sensible that the world would want to join in the conversation with us.” Daniel Boffey and Emma Supple Published By - Theguardian.com - Sports New, LifeStyle News, Politics news, UK and world political comment and analysis: Sunday 24 April 2016 00.04 BST

Senior Tories condemn ‘lame duck’ US president after he said an independent UK would be at back of trade deal queue Senior Eurosceptic Conservatives have dismissed Barack Obama’s suggestion that the UK would be “at the back of the queue” in negotiations for a US trade agreement if it left the European Union . Cabinet ministers accused the “lame duck” US president of making meaningless threats to blackmail the British people into voting to remain in Europe. Others pointed out that Europe and the US had never struck a free trade agreement anyway, and claimed Obama was being manipulated by Downing Street. Chris Grayling, the leader of the House of Commons, said: “We should not give up our independence just because of what President Obama said.” The intervention by Obama, who is popular in Britain, delighted the remain camp, but has left the leave campaign furious. “Barack Obama was doing an old friend a political favour,” said the justice minister Dominic Raab, referring to David Cam...

US president, visiting London, says ‘part of being friends is being honest’ as he lays out perils of leave vote in EU referendum Barack Obama has warned that the UK would be at the “back of the queue” in any trade deal with the US if the country chose to leave the EU, as he made an emotional plea to Britons to vote for staying in. The US president used a keenly awaited press conference with David Cameron , held at the Foreign Office, to explain why he had the “temerity to weigh in” over the high-stakes British question in an intervention that delighted remain campaigners. Obama argued that he had a right to respond to the claims of Brexit campaigners that Britain would easily be able to negotiate a fresh trade deal with the US. “They are voicing an opinion about what the United States is going to do, I figured you might want to hear from the president of the United States what I think the United States is going to do. “And on that matter, for example, I think it’s fair to say that ...

US president to visit UK amid growing confidence in Downing Street that the intellectual tide has turned away from Brexit Barack Obama is expected to make a calm but emphatic call this week for the UK to remain inside the European Union , using his status as Britain’s firmest ally to counsel that the country’s prosperity and influence will be irreversibly diminished outside the EU.  The US president will make his appeal, which the remain campaign are counting on to tip the balance decisively, both in a newspaper article and remarks at a Downing Street press conference on Friday afternoon. The importance of the UK as a key figure inside the EU club will be symbolically underscored when Obama again meets David Cameron, Angela Merkel, Mario Renzi and François Hollande in Hanover, Germany, on Monday to discuss Syria, Libya and the consequent migration crisis. The implicit message is that the UK outside the EU would not have been invited to such a high-level transatlantic conclave. Publ...

The virtues of capitalism are one thing President Obama isn’t likely to promote in his trip to Cuba. Yet it is capitalism _ along with the human right, the ability to resist oppression and dream of a better future _ that the island needs more than anything. For now, these will remain dreams. The cigar industry is proud to Cuba. novices usually ask smokers experienced Stogie is a Cuban? (Or, worse yet, can I have a blast?) Still, Cuba is no longer at the top of the hierarchy of the smoker. Their cigar industry is lagging behind in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras and others in the neighborhood, Yes, they even roll a big cigar in Cuba. But the quality controls almost don't exist. His Cohiba, Monte Cristo and even less known brands, like Ramon Allone (a big smoke can get in Cuba for $ 7), vary in flavor, drawing and other tests of flavor. On the other hand, you always know what you get when you buy a cigar of, say, the Arturo Fuente Dominican-based. If the guy who works for...