British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Thursday night set the seal on a new phase in Britain’s special relationship with the United States when he won ringing endorsements from the present and future generations of American leaders. US President George Bush hailed Brown as a ”good friend”.
Former United States president Jimmy Carter met Gaza-based leaders of Islamist Hamas in Cairo on Thursday, defying US and Israeli criticism that saw him barred from visiting the Palestinian territory. Nobel Peace Prize-winner Carter is considered to be the architect of the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty.
Democratic presidential rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton tried to explain recent controversial remarks during a tense debate on Wednesday, with Obama accusing Clinton of taking political advantage of his characterisation of small-town residents.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday embraced one of Tony Blair’s most controversial legacies when he cast himself as the leader best placed to bring Europe and the United States together after the bitter divisions over Iraq. As he prepared to fly to the US, Brown lavished praise on US leaders across the spectrum.
United States Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama spent a fourth day on Monday defending himself for calling people in small towns with economic blight ”bitter” in a controversy that rival Hillary Clinton is trying to use for a comeback. Republican John McCain also sought political gain from the flap.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton blasted rival Barack Obama during a debate on Sunday, accusing him of being ”elitist” and ”patronising”. Clinton again seized on a controversy sparked off by Obama’s comments about working-class voters. Obama, she said, was ”elitist, out of touch, and frankly patronising”.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu had kind words on Friday for United States First Lady Laura Bush and both Democratic candidates for president. But when asked about President George Bush’s legacy to the world, Tutu avoided the question and left the stage in an exaggerated tiptoe as the audience roared.
Argentine police mobilised on Friday to guard the Olympic torch through Buenos Aires, bracing for protests against the human rights record of Olympic Games host China. The torch arrived in Argentina on Thursday to little fanfare. It will be carried past the country’s pink presidential palace and along the city’s broad avenues.
One of the many joys attached to attending the Masters is watching the local television coverage. The biggest joy of all is the now established tradition that, starting on Monday at 6.30am, some poor sod masquerading as a traffic reporter has to set up a pitch at the side of the four-lane highway that runs menacingly in front of the Augusta National Golf Club.
Hillary Clinton hit out at Democratic White House rival Barack Obama over Iraq on Wednesday, as a report by war commander General David Petraeus ignited new campaign brush fires. The New York senator questioned whether Obama could live up to his pledge to bring United States troops home and lashed out at Republican nominee John McCain.
The top United States commander in Iraq told Congress on Tuesday he plans to stop US troop withdrawals in July due to fragile security gains and heard appeals for quicker action to find a way to end the war. Appearances by General David Petraeus and the US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, drew US presidential candidates.
Monty Python legend John Cleese is to offer his services as a speechwriter to Barack Obama if he wins the Democratic nomination to become United States president, he told a British newspaper on Tuesday. The British comedian, who lives in California, told the Western Daily Press that his jokes could help the Illinois senator get into the White House.
The top United States general and diplomat in Iraq testify in politically charged hearings in Congress on Tuesday, and face a grilling from three senators vying to inherit the war as the next US president. General David Petraeus and ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker will appear to update progress in the war.
Hillary Clinton’s faltering presidential campaign will undergo a ”mini-makeover” that will emphasise her more caring side following the departure of its main strategist, Mark Penn. Penn’s exit, announced on Sunday, follows clashes over his outside work for other clients as well as screaming matches with senior campaign staff and withering criticism of his strategy.
Tax returns released by former first couple Hillary and Bill Clinton revealed they earned -million over eight years, and questions were raised on Saturday about the sources of much of their wealth. Analysts and media focused on the -million Bill Clinton earned for speaking engagements.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Democrat Hillary Clinton sought to shore up support among black voters on Friday in the city where civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jnr was slain 40 years ago. Democrat Barack Obama honoured King’s legacy with a speech in Indiana, while his rivals attended activities in Memphis.
Forty years after Martin Luther King Jr was shot to death, the civil rights leader is still roiling American politics. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candidate John McCain have both come to Memphis to mark King’s April 4 1968, death and try to shore up support among black voters.
When you actually see Barack Obama, it’s startling how slight he is and how young he looks. I watched him arrive for a meeting in Philadelphia this week, and he had an anxious, fretful little smile, as if it were his first campaign speech. His ears stick out and his clothes hang loose. Most successful American politicians look well-fed on endorsements, campaign contributions and chicken dinners.
Democratic White House contender Barack Obama on Wednesday mocked rival Hillary Clinton’s claim to be a ”Rocky” fighter for the working classes, as polls suggested he is punching into her lead in gritty Pennsylvania. ”We all love Rocky, and last time I checked I was the underdog in this state,” Obama told trade unionists.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Wednesday won the endorsement of Lee Hamilton, a former Indiana congressman who is a leading United States authority on foreign relations and national security. Hamilton said Obama offers American voters the best chance to create a new sense of national unity and transcend division.
Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama assailed potential White House opponent John McCain on the economy on Tuesday, accusing the Republican of favoring the wealthy and turning his back on struggling workers and middle-class families.
He sips beers, kisses babies, hangs out in bowling alleys and bottle feeds calves: Barack Obama is playing a ”regular guy” in a stealth attack on Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania. While best known for soaring rhetoric and rock star-style rallies, the pace-setting Democrat is adopting a more personal touch, turning on the charm on a six-day bus tour of the state.
Al Gore on Monday launched a drive to mobilise 10-million volunteers to force politicians to act on climate change — twice as many as the number who marched against the Vietnam War or in support of civil rights during the heyday of United States activism in the 1960s.
United States Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton faced increasing odds on Monday as a new opinion poll showed rival Barack Obama consolidating his nationwide support. A Gallup tracking survey indicated the Illinois senator extending his lead over Clinton among Democrats nationally to 52% versus 42%, Obama’s largest lead of the year so far.
The National Civil Rights Museum sits in what was the Lorraine Motel, just beyond the shadows of Memphis’s skyscrapers and the garish neon glow of Beale Street — the main drag made famous by the likes of BB King and James Baldwin. The first words of the first exhibit state: ”Protest against injustice is deeply rooted in the African-American experience.”
Hillary Clinton vowed on Saturday night to continue her battle for the party’s presidential nomination amid increasing pressure from senior Democrats for her to quit the race. Speaking to a cheering crowd at an Indianapolis high school, she said it was important to give everyone a chance to have their voices heard.
United States Senator Robert Casey of Pennsylvania on Friday endorsed Barack Obama’s campaign for the Democratic nomination for president in a boost for the Illinois senator. Casey could help Obama win over some of the state’s white, socially conservative, blue-collar voters, many of whom are unionised and fear economic uncertainty.
Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have vowed the Democratic Party will heal its wounds, whoever wins their toxic White House race, and unite to thwart Republican John McCain. The bitter rivals spoke up amid mounting concern among party leaders that the fiercely contested battle could scupper a golden chance to grab back the White House.
Democratic hopeful Barack Obama on Wednesday dismissed Republican White House candidate John McCain’s economic plan as an insult, which left homeowners to face a mortgage crunch alone. In his first campaign appearance since a short vacation, Obama fired a new volley at the Arizona senator in a battle that is sure to intensify.
Barack Obama’s camp has accused Hillary Clinton of trying to divert attention from her exaggerated account of a 1996 trip to Bosnia after she revived a row over her rival’s fiery pastor. With Obama set to return to the campaign trail on Wednesday after a short Easter holiday, the Democratic White House foes were braced for more bitterness.
One may wind up as the first woman to lead the United States Senate. Another is relatively young and could run again for president. The third may simply resume his role as a congressional maverick and retire in two years. These are among the options that await the losers in the three-way race for the White House.
Hillary Clinton on Monday pitched a plan to stop a mortgage crisis degenerating into a full-blown recession as new vitriol spilled over in her Democratic White House struggle with Barack Obama. Obama’s camp said Clinton would do anything to win, while her aides accused him of stooping to gutter politics.