President Obama nominated Oprah Winfrey to serve as ambassador to Russia today. In a written statement, the White House said the veteran broadcaster has been selected to replace Russian policy expert Michael McFaul, who announced last week that he was stepping down after little more than a year on the job. “Oprah Winfrey is an … Continue reading
In a case fraught with major parental implications, a federal appeals court has overturned the bedtimes for Malia and Sasha Obama as chosen by the president and first lady, calling them “unconstitutional” and “totally unfair.” “This decision is novel and unprecedented,” said White House press secretary Jay Carney. “It undermines not just Barack and Michelle‘s … Continue reading
If President Obama gets his wish, little Justin Bieber will be sitting in his mom’s Canadian home by Valentine’s Day. The president has stated that he is sick and tired of getting thousands and thousands of complaints from good, hard-working, red-blooded Americans asking him to do something about the horrible attitude that Justin Bieber has … Continue reading
The Canadian government has informed President Obama that they are getting ready to release 6,391 illegal aliens from the United States into North Dakota. A spokesperson for the Canadian government said that some of the illegal immigrants had been sitting in Canadian jails for as long as 9 years. A Minnesota individual who said his … Continue reading
Playboy Corporation mogul Hugh Hefner has offered the stunning blonde prime minister of Denmark, Helle Thorning-Schmidt $1.8 million to appear in a nude layout in his magazine. Hefner spoke with reporters and stated that he knows that the issue would be one of the biggest sellers in the publication’s history. The Playboy head stated that … Continue reading
Massive investments by the US in Australian resources projects are helping both nations develop a healthy relationship with China, says departing American ambassador Jeffrey Bleich. “People like to spin out doomsday scenarios,” Mr Bleich told The Australian in a farewell interview. “They sell books and newspapers,” he said, of the view that China and the … Continue reading
Kevin Rudd has attacked Tony Abbott‘s character, questioning whether he has the temperament and judgment to handle international crises such as the human rights atrocities in Syria. After switching his campaign focus to diplomacy and national security, the Prime Minister last night used the unfolding events in Damascus to skewer the Opposition Leader over his … Continue reading
Kevin Rudd has likened the spiralling humanitarian tragedy in Syria to the notorious episodes of genocide in Bosnia and Rwanda and warned history will judge today’s leaders harshly if they do not act. In his strongest remarks yet indicating possible support for an international intervention, Mr Rudd branded the civil war in the Middle Eastern … Continue reading
The Gillard government should publicly reveal what it knows about the severity of Chinese cyber attacks on Australian interests and engage with its leaders on the issue, the nation’s top defence research group says. “Both the US and the UK have ‘called out’ China publicly for its relentless cyber assaults,” Tobias Feakin, senior analyst for … Continue reading
Cyber espionage is giving China’s intelligence agencies vast amounts of information but it’s unclear what they’re doing with the data or whether it’s useful, a new study says. A paper by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute says the scale of Chinese cyber-operations is vast, with United States President Barack Obama raising it in recent talks … Continue reading
Powerful US senator John McCain has criticised the Gillard government for cutting the Australian defence budget. In an interview in his Washington Senate office, Mr McCain told The Weekend Australian that “it is not prudent” for Canberra to cut its defence budget so heavily. Last year the Gillard government cut defence spending by 10 per … Continue reading
He may no longer be prime minister but Kevin Rudd is about to again strut the world stage in support of an article for Foreign Affairs magazine on relations between China and the US. Mr Rudd has scheduled trips to South Korea, China and the US as parliament prepares to break ahead of the May … Continue reading
Australia and Japan are eyeing a chance to conclude a free-trade agreement, possibly with a visit from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before the middle of the year. Comments made by Mr Abe and US President Barack Obama in their recent meeting appear to have heightened hopes of Japan joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade … Continue reading
China‘s assertive foreign and security policies are dominating strategic concerns in the Asia-Pacific region and have led directly to a strong US response, according to Kevin Rudd. In an article to be published next month in American journal Foreign Affairs, Mr Rudd says the “pivot” to Asia by US President Barack Obama was a direct … Continue reading
Julia Gillard has waved a final goodbye to the so-called “9/11 decade”, heralding a new age dominated by threats of cyber espionage and traditional great-power conflict. Like her centre-left contemporary Barack Obama, she is moving her party away from the preoccupations her predecessor – Middle Eastern conflicts, ballooning defence and intelligence budgets, an incessant focus … Continue reading
China plays down US support to Manila in South China Sea dispute Posted by chankaiyee2 ⋅ June 9, 2012 ⋅ Leave a Comment China’s official news agency, Xinhua, says that US President Barack Obama met Filipino President Benigno Aquino at the White House, and the two countries reiterated their commitment to strengthen their bilateral relations. The … Continue reading
On March 29, 2009, US President Obama and his administration requested and received the resignation of Rick Wagoner, the chairman and chief executive of troubled auto giant General Motors (GM). Wagoner spent more than 8 years in the top job at GM, during which the company lost billions of dollars. In 2008, GM was surpassed … Continue reading