International

Obama faces grim legacy of America’s ‘secret war’ on landmark Laos trip

Barack Obama becomes the first US president to visit Laos this week, half a century after America’s “secret war” left this long-isolated nation with the unfortunate distinction of being the most heavily bombed country in history. The US president arrives in the landlocked Southeast Asian nation on Monday to attend a regional summit, marking the […]

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International, USA

Obama says Kaepernick shows ‘sincerity’ in protest

President Obama defended 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s protest against the national anthem Monday, saying he has a constitutional right not to show respect for “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the start of games. “My understanding is he’s exercising his constitutional right to make a statement,” Mr. Obama said at a press conference in Hangzhou, China, in

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International, Sports & Competitions, USA

Obama says he doesn’t want ‘wild West’ cyberwar with Russia

Despite evidence of Russia hacking into U.S. election systems, President Obama said Monday that he doesn’t want to escalate into a “wild, wild West” cyberwar with Moscow. Emerging from a 90-minute meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in China, Mr. Obama acknowledged that the Russians have been attacking U.S. institutions on the Internet. “We’ve had

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International, USA

France’s foremost female rabbi takes a stab at the patriarchy

PARIS — In France, where women rabbis are far from the norm, one can see today’s troubling climate as an opportunity to awaken Jewish creativity. One of the direct effects of anti-Semitism and threats, suggests Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur, is an increasing insularity and traditionalism of the Jewish community. “I’m not denying there are emergent issues

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International

Chinese leader makes clear his opposition to THAAD deployment in South Korea

Chinese President Xi Jinping made it clear his opposition to the U.S. deployment of THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea during a summit with President Park Geun-hye in Hangzhou, Monday. “Mishandling the issue is not conducive to strategic stability in the region, and could intensify disputes,” Xi said during his summit with President Park on

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International

Trudeau silent on Syria crisis, Kurds after Turkish president berates Obama at G20

HANGZHOU, China – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was silent Monday after reports that Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan used the G20 to pointedly criticize U.S. president Barack Obama over his support for Kurdish troops fighting ISIL in Syria. Trudeau didn’t respond to a question about whether similar concerns had been raised in his “pull aside”

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International, Middle East, USA

Jewish and Muslim students threatened in South Carolina

A high school in upstate South Carolina will have extra security measures in place when students return after the Labor Day weekend, after Jewish and Muslim students were threatened on social media, JTA reported Sunday. A student reported the “extremely vulgar” threats to the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office on Friday night, according to local media.

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USA

Obama struggles to make a deal with Russia on Syria

HANGZHAO, China — President Barack Obama’s emissaries spent much of Sunday talking with Russian officials here about how to quell the violence in Syria, but the president all but shrugged his shoulders when asked about the prospects of a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Given the previous failures of cessations of hostilities to hold,

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International, Middle East, USA