Obama shifts Copenhagen visit to boost deal
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Friday abruptly altered the timing of his upcoming appearance at an international climate summit in Copenhagen, hoping to capitalize on steps by India and China and build a more meaningful political accord, the White House said. The move means Obama will be at the summit on Dec. 18, considered a crucial period when more leaders will be in attendance, as opposed to his scheduled stop in Denmark on Wednesday on his way to Nobel Peace Prize events in Oslo.
Jobs plan will 'jump-start' hiring, Obama says
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Even as he heralded the first unemployment drop in months, President Barack Obama began putting the finishing touches Friday on a fresh job creation proposal he's planning to send to Congress next week. "I still consider one job lost one job too many," Obama told a community college crowd in Allentown. "Good trends don't pay the rent."
Senate preserves long-term care program
WASHINGTON (AP) — Keeping faith with the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the Senate voted Friday to preserve within its health overhaul bill a long-term care insurance program to help seniors and the disabled avoid nursing homes. But the vote exposed the difficulties Democratic leaders face in persuading their own moderates to remain united behind sweeping legislation they hope to deliver to President Barack Obama. Eleven Democrats voted with Republicans, who warned that the new program would turn into a drain on the federal budget.
GOP cautions Obama against climate commitment
WASHINGTON (AP) — Even as he prepares to argue for action at the international climate conference, President Barack Obama is getting some reminders of the domestic political divide — and anxiety — over climate change. Twenty congressional Republicans, including the top House GOP leadership, sent a letter to the president Friday expressing their "grave concern" that the U.S. delegation might commit to mandatory greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
AP sources: US eyes January for new Iran sanctions
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is looking to press in early January for a new round of United Nations sanctions against Iran for its continued defiance of demands to come clean about its nuclear program, U.S. officials said Friday. As President Barack Obama's year-end deadline looms for Iran to comply with demands to prove its atomic activities are peaceful, the administration is reaching out to European allies, Russia and China to win support for new penalties at the U.N. Security Council after its membership changes Jan. 1, the officials said.
At least 7,000 fresh NATO troops to bolster war
BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO allies will bolster the American troop surge in Afghanistan by sending at least 7,000 soldiers of their own, officials said Friday in pledges that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton described as crucial to turning the tide in the stalemated war. The promised increase came as U.S. Marines and Afghan troops launched the first offensive since President Barack Obama announced a 30,000-troop American increase. The Marines and Afghan forces struck Taliban communications and supply lines Friday in an insurgent stronghold in southern Afghanistan.
US general: Helmand push paves way for surge
WASHINGTON (AP) — Gen. David Petraeus says the Marine Corps offensive launched Friday in southern Afghanistan is part of preparations for the arrival of 30,000 new U.S. reinforcements. Petraeus told The Associated Press that the military has been working for months to extend what he called "the envelope of security" around key towns in Helmand and Kandahar provinces. The top general in charge of both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars spoke Friday about President Barack Obama's decision to send an additional 30,000 U.S. forces to Afghanistan.
Pawlenty, other aspirants travel for foreign cred
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Pawlenty can't see Russia from his house. Neither could former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, of course, but her suggestion that Russia's proximity to her home state made for foreign policy chops was spoofed endlessly during the 2008 campaign. The Minnesota Republican won't be such an easy target — he's a globe-trotter whose trade missions, troop visits and stops at exclusive international conferences have taken him to Baghdad, Bangalore, Beijing and points beyond.
AP sources: US may widen drone strikes in Pakistan
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is considering widening missile strikes on al-Qaida and the Taliban inside Pakistan and is planning to bolster the training of Pakistan's forces in a key border battleground where militants fuel the escalating Afghan insurgency, according to U.S. officials. The officials said the stepped-up moves against the militant networks could extend the air strikes further south, beyond the current target areas in Waziristan and into the western province of Baluchistan. U.S. special operations forces are also developing plans to expand their training of Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps into that province.
Obama's stylish aide is under withering scrutiny
She arrived in Washington with more of a splash than any White House social secretary before her, and no wonder: Desiree Rogers had obvious style, wealth, a Harvard MBA, years of corporate experience, and friends at the top, most importantly Barack and Michelle Obama. She defined her goal as nothing less than bringing life to the Obama presidency. And she pulled off a series of innovative, high-wattage events that seemed to be doing just that. She even got the nation's governors to dance in a conga line.
