Tagged with barack obama
PORT-AU-PRINCE (BNO NEWS) — The first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama makes, is making an unannounced visit Tuesday to quake-devastated Haiti, the White House said.
First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice president Joe Biden’s wife Dr. Jill Biden, arrived in Port-au-Prince at 10:40 a.m. local time, taking a helicopter tour of the Haitian capital where more than a million people are homeless, many living underneath tents and tarps.
Their visit comes a day after Haitians acknowledged the three-month anniversary of the Jan. 12th, 7.0-magnitude earthquake that ripped through the capital and four smaller southern cities.
“First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden are visiting Haiti to underscore to the Haitian people and the Haitian government the enduring U.S. commitment to help Haiti recover and rebuild, especially as we enter the rainy and hurricane seasons, and to thank the women and men across the whole of the U.S. government for their extraordinary efforts in Haiti during the past three months,” the White House said.
“They will also reach out to the UN and international relief communities in recognition of the truly global effort underway to help Haiti.”
It’s Mrs. Obama’s first solo official trip since U.S. President Barack Obama took office last year. She will visit projects set up after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake in January.
Mrs. Obama is scheduled to arrive in Mexico on Tuesday evening.
(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without explicit prior permission from BNO News B.V. Contact sales@bnonews.com for more information about subscriptions.)
PORT-AU-PRINCE (BNO NEWS) — The first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama makes, is making an unannounced visit Tuesday to quake-devastated Haiti, the White House said.
It’s Mrs. Obama’s first solo official trip since U.S. President Barack Obama took office last year. She will visit projects set up after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake in January.
Mrs. Obama is scheduled to arrive in Mexico on Tuesday evening.
(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without explicit prior permission from BNO News B.V. Contact sales@bnonews.com for more information about subscriptions.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — Chinese President Hu Jintao said Monday that China would firmly stick to the path of reforming its currency exchange rate formation mechanism based on its own economic needs, state media reported.
According to a report carried by the state-run Xinhua newswire service, Hu said detailed measures for reform should be considered in the context of the world’s economic situation, its development and changes, as well as China’s economic conditions.
Yuan “appreciation would neither balance Sino-U.S. trade nor solve the unemployment problem in the United States,” Hu told U.S. President Barack Obama.
Hu also said the yuan’s appreciation could not solve the U.S. unemployment problem.
(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without explicit prior permission from BNO News B.V. Contact sales@bnonews.com for more information about subscriptions.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — The threat of nuclear terrorism is real, it is serious, it is growing, and it constitutes one of the greatest threats to the U.S. national security and to global security, a top U.S. official said on Monday.
President Barack Obama’s advisor on Counterterrorism and Homeland Security John Brennan said that over the past two decades there has been indisputable evidence that dozens of terrorist groups have actively sought some type of weapon of mass effect.
Speaking at the Washington Convention Center Brennan said that relative to other such potential weapons the consequences and impact of a nuclear attack would be the most devastating as well as the most lasting.
“Al Qaeda has been engaged in the effort to acquire a nuclear weapon for over 15 years, and its interest remains strong today,” Brennan added.
“There have been numerous reports over the years about attempts throughout the world to obtain various types of purported material that is nuclear related. We know that al Qaeda has been involved in a number of these efforts to acquire it.”
Brennan said the U.S. goal is to take away the opportunities Al Qaeda may have to acquire the fissile material — highly enriched uranium or separated plutonium — or the expertise that is required to use that fissile material to create an improvised nuclear explosive devise.
(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without explicit prior permission from BNO News B.V. Contact sales@bnonews.com for more information about subscriptions.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — President Barack Obama on Friday expressed condolences on the West Virginia mine disaster and said more needs to be done to improve mine safety.
“I want to offer my deepest condolences to the friends and the families of the fathers and the husbands and brothers, nephews and sons who were killed in this accident,” Obama said.
“I’m also in awe of the courage and selflessness shown by the rescue teams who’ve risked their lives over and over and over this week for the chance to save another.”
President Obama said he will receive the first report on the disaster the next week.
Earlier, Massey Energy Company defended its safety records and said the company will conduct extensive reviews of the Upper Big Branch accident and work in to ensure that a similar incident doesn’t happen again.
The company, with operations in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia, said that since January 2009, the mine has had less than one violation per day of inspection by authorities, a rate consistent with national averages.
The largest coal producer in Central Appalachia stated that since the passage of the Miner Act in 2006, the company have worked hard to implement its requirements, including the usage of tracking devices and shelters.
(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without explicit prior permission from BNO News B.V. Contact sales@bnonews.com for more information about subscriptions.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — President Barack Obama on Friday expressed condolences on the West Virginia mine disaster and said more needs to be done to improve mine safety.
President Obama said he will receive the first report on the disaster the next week.
Earlier, Massey Energy Company defended its safety records and said the company will conduct extensive reviews of the Upper Big Branch accident and work in to ensure that a similar incident doesn’t happen again.
The company, with operations in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia, said that since January 2009, the mine has had less than one violation per day of inspection by authorities, a rate consistent with national averages.
The largest coal producer in Central Appalachia stated that since the passage of the Miner Act in 2006, the company have worked hard to implement its requirements, including the usage of tracking devices and shelters.
(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without explicit prior permission from BNO News B.V. Contact sales@bnonews.com for more information about subscriptions.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) President Barack Obama on Friday expressed condolences on the West Virginia mine disaster and said more needs to be done to improve mine safety.
Obama said he will receive the first report on the disaster the next week.
(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without explicit prior permission from BNO News B.V. Contact sales@bnonews.com for more information about subscriptions.)
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (BNO NEWS) – U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dimitry Medvedev signed the new START treaty on Thursday at a ceremony in the Prague Castle.
The New START Treaty is one big step towards the decrease of nuclear weapons, a commitment that President Obama has been seeking since the beginning of his presidential term. The signing of this treaty is a foundation of more steps that should be taken to protect the humanity’s security and pursues global leadership.
“I said then – and I will repeat now – that this is a long-term goal, one that may not even be achieved in my lifetime. But I believed then – as I do now – that the pursuit of that goal will move us further beyond the Cold War, strengthen the global non-proliferation regime, and make the United States, and the world, safer and more secure,” President Obama said.
The new START treaty will limit both nations to reduce about a third of the nuclear weapons within seven years. Russia and the U.S. hold over 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons.
“Today is an important milestone for nuclear security and non-proliferation, and for U.S.-Russia relations. It fulfills our common objective to negotiate a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. It includes significant reductions in the nuclear weapons that we will deploy. It cuts our delivery vehicles by roughly half. It includes a comprehensive verification regime, which allows us to further build trust.”
“While the New START treaty is an important first step forward, it is just one step on a longer journey. We hope to pursue discussions with Russia on reducing both our strategic and tactical weapons, including non-deployed weapons. President Medvedev and I have also agreed to expand our discussions on missile defense.”
The Treaty has a duration of 10 years and it will supersede the expired START treaty as well as another, the Russia-U.S. treaty on the reduction of strategic offensive capabilities.
“Let me point out once again what we have achieved, because this is very important thing: 1,550 developed weapons, which is about one-third below the current level; 700 deployed ICBMs – intercontinental ballistic missile – and anti-ballistic missiles and heavy bombers, and this represents more than twofold reduction below the current levels; and 800 deployed and non-deployed launchers for such missiles – deployed and non-deployed heavy bombers, which again represents a twofold reduction below the level that existed prior to the signature on this treaty,” President Medvedev said.
(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without explicit prior permission from BNO News B.V. Contact sales@bnonews.com for more information about subscriptions.)
WASHINGTON D.C. (BNO NEWS) – President Barack Obama expressed his views about the release of the Nuclear Posture review, presented on March 1 by the U.S. department of Defense, the White House announced on Tuesday.
“The Nuclear Posture Review recognizes that the greatest threat to U.S. and global security is no longer a nuclear exchange between nations, but nuclear terrorism by violent extremists and nuclear proliferation to an increasing number of states,” President Obama said.
President Obama stated that his nuclear agenda focuses in the reduction of nuclear weapons and the preservation of the U.S. military superiority for safeguarding the security of the American people.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty will be the central piece of the next week’s nuclear security summit as it prevents nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism, similar to the Obama’s nuclear agenda.
“The United States is declaring that we will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapons states that are party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and in compliance with their nuclear nonproliferation obligations,” Obama declared. “Those nations that fail to meet their obligations will therefore find themselves more isolated, and will recognize that the pursuit of nuclear weapons will not make them more secure.”
President Obama also confirmed that the U.S. will not conduct any kind of nuclear tests. Furthermore the U.S. won’t develop new nuclear warheads, military missions or new capabilities for nuclear weapons, and will seek ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
“As I stated last year in Prague, so long as nuclear weapons exist, we will maintain a safe, secure and effective arsenal that guarantees the defense of the United States, reassures allies and partners, and deters potential adversaries.“
Finally, President Barack Obama and Russian President Dimitry Medvedev will sign the START Treaty this week, committing the United States and Russia to substantial reductions in their nuclear arsenals.
(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without explicit prior permission from BNO News B.V. Contact sales@bnonews.com for more information about subscriptions.)
WASHINGTON D.C. (BNO NEWS) – U.S. President Barack Obama called President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea to offer his support and condolences following the sinking of a South Korean vessel, the White House announced on Wednesday.
On March 26, the South Korean Navy vessel Cheonan sank in the Yellow Sea near North Korea. The vessel carried 104 crew members; only 59 were rescued. A South Korean Navy diver also died during the rescue efforts.
“The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the families of those missing and with the family of the South Korean Navy diver who died trying to rescue them,” President Obama said.
President Obama offered the U.S. Navy to assist in the the South Korea’s ongoing search and also said that they were prepared to provide further help if necessary.
Both presidents also discussed briefly about the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C. on April 12-13.
(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without explicit prior permission from BNO News B.V. Contact sales@bnonews.com for more information about subscriptions.)
