Articles by "Barack Obama"
Jerusalem, Sep 3: Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte has apologised to former US president Barack Obama for calling him a "son of a whore" in 2016, which sparked a new low in their nations' long alliance.
Duterte lobbed the insult in response to steady criticism from the United States over his violent drug crackdown, which has been a target for international condemnation.
However, the Philippine president said his nation's relationship with America has since improved under President Donald Trump, who he described as a "good friend" who "speaks my language".
"It would be appropriate also to say at this time to Mr. Obama that you are now a civilian and I am sorry for uttering those words," Duterte said Sunday in a speech before Filipinos in Israel.
Duterte landed in Israel on Sunday for a four-day stay as the Philippines seeks to develop new sources of military hardware and nail down protections for its overseas workers.
"If it is (in) your heart to forgive, you forgive. I have forgiven you, just like my girlfriends when I was still a bachelor... I have forgiven them also," the Philippine leader said in the same speech.
After his election in mid-2016, Duterte quickly earned a reputation for using vulgar language against critics which his aides have tried to minimise or explain away.
He branded Pope Francis and the then US ambassador to Manila "sons of whores". He also fired expletives at the United Nations and during a speech in the Philippines raised his middle finger in defiance to the European parliament.
Duterte often rails at critics of his campaign to rid the Philippines of narcotics, which police say has killed 4,410 alleged drug dealers or users.
Rights groups say the actual number of dead is triple that and could amount to crimes against humanity.
Duterte cursed Obama ahead of a regional summit in Laos two years ago prompting the US to cancel a meeting between the two leaders there.
Obama later described Duterte as "a colourful guy" as he urged him to conduct his anti-narcotics campaign "the right way".
Duterte sparked new criticism ahead of his departure for Israel, blaming the high number of rapes in his hometown of Davao on the large number of beautiful women there.
"They say there are many rape cases in Davao," Duterte said in a speech on Thursday. "For as long as there are many beautiful women, there will be many rape cases, too." Duterte has on several occasions made rape jokes in public since his presidential campaign.
The latest comment was denounced by women's rights defenders.
"Beauty doesn't cause rape, rapists do," said Philippine lawmaker Risa Hontiveros, a Duterte critic. (AFP)
Washington, Aug 2: Barack Obama has endorsed Aftab Pureval, an American of Indian-Tibetan descent, for the Congressional elections in November as the former US President released his first endorsement list of over 80 Democratic candidates.
Pureval, 35, who is seeking to enter the House of Representatives from the first Congressional District of Ohio, is the only American of Indian-Tibetan descent in the list of 81 candidates running for various positions in the November mid-term elections.
"I'm proud to endorse such a wide and impressive array of Democratic candidates leaders as diverse, patriotic and big-hearted as the America they're running to represent," said Obama yesterday as he released his first list.
One fourth of them are running for the US Congress.
Pureval is seeking to unseat an 11-term incumbent Republican Congressman Steve Chabot, with local media reports describing it as a toss-up race.
Pureval, whose campaign has gained momentum in recent weeks, said he was "fired up and ready to go".
"President Obama inspired me to get involved in public service. It is surreal and incredible to have his endorsement," he said.
"As he told us, we are the ones who have been waiting for. Change starts with us. And in 100 days, we're going to make it happen here," said Pureval.
If elected, Pureval would be the first Tibetan-American to enter the US House of Representatives.
He was the first Democrat to get elected as the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts in more than 100 years.
Born and raised in Southwest Ohio, Pureval worked at a law firm and became a special assistant federal prosecutor where he worked with the FBI to prosecute crimes against children.
Before that, he had worked at P&G as the global brand attorney for Olay, supporting a billion dollar business.
As Hamilton County Clerk of Courts, he brought modern and professional reforms to the office, ended patronage and nepotism, launched a new website, cut fees for public records and put more services online.
"Pureval raised more than double what Chabot raised last quarter and is approaching the long-time incumbent's cash-on-hand total," said Sabato's Crystal Ball, weekly online political newsletter.
According to Dayton Daily news, Pureval raised USD 823,663 last quarter compared with USD 339,290 raised by Chabot. (PTI)
New
Delhi, Dec 1: Former US president Barack Obama on Friday disclosed he
raised the issue of diversity and religious tolerance ‘’privately ‘’ with Prime
Minister Narendra Modi during his 2015 visit to India.
'A country should not be divided on sectarian lines and that
is something I have told Prime Minister Modi in person as well as to people in
the US,’’ Mr Obama said.
He, however, said Mr Modi firmly believed that unity was
necessary for the progress of the country.
'My goal here is not to disclose every private conversation I
have. I think his impulses are to recognise Indian unity. I think he (Modi)
firmly believes unity is necessary for the progress of the nation,’’ Mr Obama
said.
His remarks came at the HT Leadership Sumit during an
interaction with journalist Karan Thapar who asked him whether his message on
diversity and religious tolerances given on the last day of his 2015 visit to
India was meant for the Modi Government.
'It was a message to everyone. I have said the same thing
privately to PM Modi. It’s happening across the world due to the changes taking
place,’’ he said.
He said the collision of cultures was giving rise to many new
issues.
Mr Obama said, 'India needs to cherish and nurture its Muslim
population that is integrated and considers itself Indian.'
“Particularly in a country like India, you have such a huge
Muslim population that feels integrated. And that is unfortunately not always
the case in other countries. That is something that should be cherished and
nurtured,’’ he added.
In reply to another question, Mr Obama said citizens should
be alert to any politician having a divisive agenda.
'If you see a politician doing things that are questionable,
one of the questions you can ask yourself as a citizen is ‘am I encouraging
this?’ If communities across India say they won’t fall prey to division, then
it will strengthen the hand of politicians who feel that way,' he said. UNI
