'Tonight's news is also proof that it's possible to root out terrorism without being at war in Afghanistan'
The closing down of the Guantanamo detention centre was in US' security interest, the Obama administration maintained on Wednesday, amid a clamour among lawmakers for a review of the decision and for stopping of the transfer of detainees to Yemen.
Washington is now set to begin formal negotiation with Mullah Omar's Taliban in Doha
The Obama administration has said that too much is being read into the joint United States-China statement issued by President Barack Obama and Chinese leader Hu Jintao in Beijing. The statement had irked the Indian administration on the eve of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the US, as New Delhi perceived it as an attempt to interfere in the bilateral relations between India and Pakistan.
Ro Khanna, 32, has been appointed by President Barack Obama as the new deputy assistant secretary of commerce for domestic operations of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service, International Trade Administration at the US Department of Commerce.He is the first Indian American to be named for a senior position in the Department of Commerce in the Obama administration, whose portfolio will have a direct impact on US-India trade and commercial ties.
President Barack Obama has the power to order a pre-emptive cyber strike if the United States detects credible evidence of a major digital attack against it from abroad, a secret legal review has concluded amid increased cyberattacks on American firms and critical infrastructure.
The agreement includes a balance of spending cuts and revenue increases.
The family vacation comes a week after the oldest daughter, Malia, graduated from the private Sidwell Friends School at an outdoor ceremony that the family attended.
The White House has said the Indo-US relationship has been exceedingly well in the last eight years of Bush regime and is expected to continue during the incoming Obama Administration.
"On behalf of the American people, I wish to extend my deepest condolences to the people of India on the passing of former Indian President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam," Obama said in a statement.
A senior official in the Barack Obama administration has said that all contentious issues, including concern that Indian students are being duped by sham universities and colleges that have questionable credentials, would be on the table during the major United States-India Education Summit in October.
In yet another step towards full implementation of the United States-India civilian nuclear deal -- which the Obama administration has been accused in some quarters of not being fully committed to -- US President Barack Obama on Wednesday issued a memorandum certifying the agreement between India and the International Atomic Energy Agency of the Safeguards Agreement on India's civilian nuclear facilities.
Menon reached Washington late Thursday night, several hours after his scheduled arrival, due to inclement weather in the region because of which his flights had to be diverted.
General Stanley McChrystal, who was sacked last year as the United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation commander in Afghanistan after publication of an article that quoted him as criticising the Obama administration, has been cleared of wrongdoing by the Pentagon.
"I think it's the importance of our relationship with India on a host of issues. Obviously, counter terrorism is important," Gibbs said at his daily news conference.
The nuclear nonproliferation lobby has urged the United States administration to ensure that America's dual-use technology is not diverted by New Delhi to its nuclear weapons programme.
United States President Barack Obama took up with visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping his concerns over the human rights situation in China, which has experienced a recent surge in unrest among the Tibetan community.
In a move that could have determining effect on the 'war on terror' in Afghanistan, the new American military commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus has suggested putting the dreaded Haqqani group in the list of banned terror groups.
Tim Geithner, President Barack Obama's choice for Treasury secretary, on Thursday accused China of "manipulating" its currency and pledged "aggressive" diplomatic action to drive Beijing into action.
United States President Barack Obama on Friday strongly defended sweeping secret surveillance into telephone records of millions of Americans and foreigners' Internet use, as he assured people that intelligence agencies were not listening to their calls.
The Obama Administration has cautioned Pakistan that it would be held accountable for the security in the border regions of Afghanistan and that its performance in the fight against terrorism would be linked to the financial aid to it. "President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will increase non-military aid to Pakistan and hold them accountable for security in the border region with Afghanistan," the White House said in its foreign policy agenda document.
US President Barack Obama has proposed a $7.4 million allocation in his annual budget for preservation of the tradition and culture of Tibet in the Tibetan Autonomous Region and other parts of China.
US President Barack Obama's Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke has said that the US would be releasing $200 million for Pakistan under the Coalition Support Fund soon.
President-elect Barack Obama's Transition Team has announced leaders for a series of Policy Working Groups for the Presidential Transition, which includes Indian-American Sonal Shah of Google, who will craft the incoming administration's high tech policy priorities.Shah heads Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org's global development efforts, and has a lengthy resume on international development issues.
White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, said global price of oil is affected by a variety of factors, some of which are well beyond the control of any administration.
On Wednesday, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, asked at the regular noon briefing if Clinton would be replying to Walsh and if the US would review its position in 2005, when it refused Modi a visa to come to the US, said: "Our position on the visa issue hasn't changed at all."
The Obama administration continues to be gravely concerned over the plight of Tamil civilians caught up in the crossfire between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan security forces but has no plans to launch a massive military evacuation by the US Pacific Command till there is a halt in the hostilities in the conflict zone, senior administration officials revealed.
Mourning the death of Richard Holbrooke, the United States special envoy to Af-Pak region, President Barack Obama on Tuesday described him as one of the true giants of American foreign policy who has made the country stronger, safer and more respected.
Outgoing Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta on Monday alleged that Pakistan's attempt to modify the Harpoon missile posed a danger to India's interests. As per media reports, the Barack Obama administration has lodged a protest with the Pakistan government for illegally modifying United States-made missiles to expand its ability to hit land-based targets. Mehta said that US authorities are constantly being told that their aid to Pakistan is not used for self-defence.
Pakistani diplomats are engaged in behind-the-scenes diplomacy in a bid to stop United States President Barack Obama's administration from supporting a lawsuit filed against Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha in a US court by relatives of two Jewish-American victims of the Mumbai terror attacks.
Observing that the economic weight of emerging powers like China, India and Brazil gives them clout in financial and political sphere, a top United States official has said that the Obama Administration has decided to develop 'a positive-sum trajectory' with these key global players.
Dr Rajiv Shah, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development and the highest ranking Indian American in the Barack Obama administration, while speaking on the devastating floods in Pakistan, said, "The scale and scope of this natural disaster is astronomical."
The incoming Obama administration on Tuesday declared that the Mumbai terror attacks threw up new challenges for American diplomacy. US Secretary of State designate Hillary Clinton listed the 26/11 strikes as among the six major new challenges for American leadership though diplomacy that has emerged since the November presidential elections.
The incoming Barack Obama administration is likely to appoint veteran troubleshooter Richard C Holbrooke as a special envoy to Pakistan and India amid tensions in the sub-continent following the Mumbai terrorist strikes.
The top US commander in Afghanistan appeared to be on his way out after the White House and Pentagon took strong objection to his controversial comments against key aids of Obama administration in an interview.
In an exclusive interview to Rediff.com, US Assistant Secretary of State Robert O Blake speaks about President Obama's trip to India, the recent US-India Strategic Dialogue and the fate of the nuclear liability bill.
Republican Mark Kirk defeated Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias in one of the nation's ugliest and most closely watched Senate races.
A heavy rain Sunday morning did little to dispirit the thousands who gathered in the main courtyard of Tsuglagkhang, the Dalai Lama temple, to observe the 90th birth anniversary of the 14th Dalai Lama.
President Barack Obama, in the coming years, will have to decide whether to deploy such weapons cutting the US reliance on nuclear weapons, the New York Times said in its report.
The United States is talking to both India and Pakistan about their nuclear programmes, a top Obama Administration official has said.
