Latest Barack Obama News

Takeaways from Blinken's latest Mideast trip, possibly his last to the region as the top US diplomat

Dec. 14, 2024 10:38 AM EST

AQABA, Jordan (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been on perhaps his last Middle East diplomatic mission as America’s top diplomat this week with the aim of preventing Syria from spiraling out of control after the sudden ouster of President Bashar Assad. Blinken...

Unique among 'Person of the Year' designees, Donald Trump gets a fact-check from Time magazine

Dec. 13, 2024 23:35 PM EST

Time magazine gave Donald Trump something it has never done for a Person of the Year designee: a lengthy fact-check of claims he made in an accompanying interview. The fact-check accompanies a transcript of what the president-elect told the newsmagazine's journalists. Described as a...

Nikki Giovanni, poet and literary celebrity, has died at 81

Dec. 13, 2024 12:44 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Nikki Giovanni, the poet, author, educator and public speaker who went from borrowing money to release her first book to spending decades as a literary celebrity who shared blunt and conversational takes on everything from racism and love to space travel and mortality, has died....

Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people in biggest single-day act of clemency

Dec. 13, 2024 12:06 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. It's the largest single-day act of clemency in modern...

The year in review: Influential people who died in 2024

Dec. 13, 2024 08:44 AM EST

It was a murder case almost everyone had an opinion on. O.J. Simpson 's “trial of the century” over the 1994 killings of his ex-wife and her friend bared divisions over race and law enforcement in America and brought an intersection of sports, crime, entertainment and class that was hard to...

About 3 in 10 are highly confident in Trump on Cabinet, spending or military oversight: AP-NORC poll

Dec. 13, 2024 07:40 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans may have recently elected Donald Trump to a second term, but that doesn't mean they have high confidence in his ability to choose well-qualified people for his Cabinet — or effectively manage government spending, the military and the White House, according to a new...

Amazon to contribute $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. Meta is also donating $1M

Dec. 12, 2024 21:42 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is planning to donate $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration fund, a move that comes as major tech companies seek to improve their relationship with the incoming president. A company spokesperson confirmed Thursday evening that the...

Ex-FBI informant accused of lying about Bidens agrees to plead guilty to federal charges

Dec. 12, 2024 15:13 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI informant accused of falsely claiming that President Joe Biden and his son Hunter accepted bribes has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges, according to court papers filed Thursday. As part of the plea deal with Justice Department special...

Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor

Dec. 12, 2024 14:44 PM EST

The head of the Federal Aviation Administration, who has led a tougher enforcement policy against Boeing since a panel blew off a jetliner in January, said Thursday that he will step down next month, clearing the way for President-elect Donald Trump to name his choice to lead the agency. ...

Jim Leach, former US representative from Iowa, dies at 82

Dec. 11, 2024 20:02 PM EST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Jim Leach, who served 30 years as a politician from eastern Iowa and later headed the National Endowment for the Humanities, died Wednesday. He was 82. Leach, whose death was confirmed by an Iowa City funeral home, represented Iowa as a...