Obama, Hollande Meet for First Time Before G-8 Summit Convenes By Margaret Talev and Helene Fouquet - 2012-05-18T01:53:32Z Enlarge image France's President Francois Hollande Michele Tantussi/Bloomberg Francois Hollande, France's president. Francois Hollande, France's president. Photographer: Michele Tantussi/Bloomberg May 18 (Bloomberg) -- Andrew Sullivan, principal sales trader at Piper Jaffray Asia Securities Ltd. in Hong Kong, talks about Europe's sovereign debt crisis, its implications for global financial markets and the outlook for this weekend's summit of leaders from the Group of Eight nations in Camp David, Maryland. He also discusses Facebook Inc.'s initial public offering. He speaks with Susan Li, John Dawson, Mia Saini and David Ingles on Bloomberg Television's "Asia Edge." (Source: Bloomberg) President Barack Obama meets today with France’s new Socialist president and self-described ... Continue reading →
Obama’s Gay Marriage Turnabout Forced Public by Biden By Margaret Talev and Julianna Goldman - Thu May 10 04:00:02 GMT 2012 President Barack Obama. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg At a fundraiser with gay activists in New York last June, the day before state legislators passed a same-sex marriage law, President Barack Obama considered the choice they were making. He concluded he’d almost certainly have voted “yes” too. Conversations with staff, family, friends and supporters also moved him in that direction. So did religious reflection and his sense of shifting public sentiment, said administration officials who insisted on anonymity to describe private discussions about the president’s change on the issue. Obama reached a turning point early this year and decided to publicly back gay marriage, they said. ... Continue reading →
This report is a study of 17 de-classified documents captured during the Abbottabad raid and released to the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC). They consist of electronic letters or draft letters, totaling 175 pages in the original Arabic and 197 pages in the English translation. The earliest is dated September 2006 and the latest April 2011. These internal al-Qa`ida communications were authored by several leaders, most prominently Usama bin Ladin. In contrast to his public statements that focused on the injustice of those he believed to be the “enemies” of Muslims, namely corrupt “apostate” Muslim rulers and their Western “overseers,” the focus of Bin Ladin’s private letters is Muslims’ suffering at the hands of his jihadi “brothers”. He is at pain advising them to abort domestic ... Continue reading →
Enlarge image Secrecy Paramount on Obama Kabul Mission in 36 Hours of Darkness Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images President Barack Obama is greeted by Lieutenant General Curtis Scaparrotti, left, and US Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker upon arrival at Bagram Air Field, in Afghanistan, on May 1, 2012. President Barack Obama is greeted by Lieutenant General Curtis Scaparrotti, left, and US Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker upon arrival at Bagram Air Field, in Afghanistan, on May 1, 2012. Photographer: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images The cryptic call summoning reporters to the White House came at 12:19 p.m. Sunday from a private number and lasted only 25 seconds. By the following night, Air Force One was in the air. In the next 36 hours, the 13-member pool of reporters who ... Continue reading →