Happy 125th Birthday To Statue Of Liberty

Americans have been celebrating the 125th birthday of the Statues of Liberty it is the iconic symbol of freedom.

The anniversary was marked by a ceremony that echoed the original inauguration which took place on October 28, 1886, in front of the then-president Grover Cleveland.

125-years-old: The landmark birthday of the iconic American symbol was celebrated on Friday, before it is closed for a year for renovations

The birthday party concluded on Friday night with a 12-minute fireworks display choreographed to patriotic music. The statue came to symbolize freedom, especially for immigrants - 12 million of whom passed through nearby Ellis Island as they entered the United States.

The birthday ceremony saw 125 modern-day immigrants from more than 45 countries become citizens at the feet of Lady Liberty Statue on Liberty Island, in the heart of New York Harbor.

After the American and French national anthems were played, actress Sigourney Weaver read The New Colossus, a poem by Emma Lazarus inscribed under the statue in bronze, with the famous line about welcoming "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free". A salute from passing boats was then followed by the spectacular fireworks display.

The landmark statue will now close for a year for a £17m internal renovation project, although Liberty Island itself will remain open to tourists, who arrive by a short ferry trip.

Obama to Visit Australia's Far North

On Thursday, the white house has said that US president Barack Obama have a visit to Australia’s Northern Territory next month. Obama will become the first US president to visit Austraila’s Northern Territory, White House added.

First Obama will address to the Australian Parliament in Canberra during his one night stay in Austraila, after that Obama plan to visit Darwin. This trip that has been postponed twice under the pressure of US domestic politics.

The obama plan to visit on November 16 and 17 will mark the 60th anniversary of the military alliance between Australia and the United States and stress an increasing US diplomatic and military focus on the Pacific region.

Obama will also travel to the Indonesian resort island of Bali following Australia for the East Asia summit and will begin his visit by hosting the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit (APEC) in his native Hawaii.

Nearly 1.7 Million White House Visitor Records Released

In September 2009, the President announced that – for the first time in history – White House visitor records would be made available to the public on an ongoing basis.  Today, the White House releases visitor records that were generated in July 2011.  This release brings the total number of records made public by this White House to nearly 1.8 million records.

Visitors of White House

As part of the Obama plan for the government transparency, we are providing records of White House visitors on an ongoing basis online. In December 2009, we will begin posting all White House visitor records for the period from September 15th onwards under the terms of our new voluntary disclosure policy. In addition, as part of our new policy, we will post records dating from January 20th that are specifically requested on an ongoing basis. For more information, read the White House blog post announcing the new policy.

Biggest US Nuclear Bomb Dismantled In Texas

Cold War relic 600 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima dismantled as part of US nuclear policy. The last of the nation's biggest nuclear bombs, a Cold War relic 600 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, has been dismantled in what one energy official called a milestone in President Barack Obama plan to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

This undated handout photo provided by the National Nuclear Security Administration shows the United States’ last B53 nuclear bomb.

Workers in Texas separated the roughly 300lb (136kg) of high explosives inside from the special nuclear material – uranium, known as the pit. The work was done outside of public view for security reasons, but explosives from a bomb taken apart earlier were detonated as officials and reporters watched from less than a mile (1.6 kilometers) away. Thomas D'Agostino, the nuclear administration's chief, called the bomb's elimination a "significant milestone."

Put into service in 1962, when Cold War tensions peaked during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the B53 weighed 10,000 pounds and was the size of a minivan. According to the American Federation of Scientists, it was 600 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, killing as many as 140,000 people and helping end World War II.

Statement by the President on the Observance of Diwali

Here’s the back story – ex-president Bush started the practice of hosting a Diwali event since 2003, courtesy request of the Indian-American community and it’s been a practice ever since. Some of the events have been fully fledged and upto two hours long, while some, like last year’s,  have been less flashy.

President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama with students during a Diwali candle lighting and performance at Holy Name HIgh School in Mumbai, India, Nov. 7, 2010.

Today is Diwali, and millions across the world are celebrating the Festival of Lights. Last year, the President and First Lady had the opportunity to participate in Diwali festivities during their trip to India, and today, he marked the occasion again:

Statement by the President on the Observance of Diwali:

“Today, here in America and around the world, Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists will celebrate the holiday of Diwali – the festival of lights.  Many who observe this holiday do so by lighting the Diya, or lamp, which symbolizes the victory of light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance.  I was proud to be the first President to mark Diwali and light the Diya at the White House, and last year Michelle and I were honored to join in Diwali celebrations during our visit to India. Diwali is a time for gathering with family and friends and—as we experienced in India—celebrating with good food and dancing.  It is also a time for contemplation and prayer that serves as a reminder of our obligations to our fellow human beings, especially the less fortunate and all who are observing this sacred holiday here and around the world, Happy Diwali and Saal Mubarak.”

President Lays Out New Student Loan Rules

President Barack Obama is set to unveiled "Pay As You Earn" proposal on Wednesday, a plan to reduce the burden of student loans on college graduates as the amount of debt for higher education surges.

Obama Set To Unveil Student-Loan Plan

Under the changes, students with loans issued by private banks and the government will be able to consolidate the two types of loans into a single government loan with a lower interest rate.

In addition, Obama will also speed up changes that will cap a graduate’s annual federal student loan repayment at 10% of his or her income. The reforms, now due to go into effect next year, had been scheduled to take effect in 2014. The student loan program is particularly popular with key Democratic constituencies. The issue is of great concern to young people, who make up an important part of Mr. Obama's political base.

Based on consumer credit data released by the Federal Reserve, the federal government’s student loan program has risen to $392 billion in August 2011 from $107 billion in the same month in 2008, according to an estimate by Troy Davig, an economist at Barclays Capital.

Students can still obtain private loans for colleges. Abernathy said there is little public data about the private student-loan market but said that more than $20 billion in student loans were being made annually at the peak of the market before the financial crisis.

Iraq Withdrawal Decision of President Obama

In a Friday morning video conference, Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki agreed to a complete U.S. military departure that will fulfill a promise important to Obama’s reelection effort. The decision drew sharp criticism from his Republican rivals, as well as expressions of relieved support from those who believe it is time for the United States to conclude a war Obama once called “dumb.”

President Obama will withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of the year, ending a long war that deeply divided the country over its origins and the American lives it consumed. The decision comes after months of efforts to reach an agreement with Iraq over a continuing U.S. military presence after 2011.

U.S. President Barack Obama announces the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq in the briefing room of the White House in Washington.

 

 

Politics in Washington and Baghdad drove the discussion over a potential troop extension, rather than considerations of required capabilities to preserve U.S. interests and a secure and stable Iraq. U.S. military commanders in Iraq had initially recommended a continued troop presence of more than 20,000; however, this number was whittled down by Washington on political grounds and the White House capped the acceptable number of U.S. troops at 3,000-5,000, a force size too small to accomplish the required missions.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad, Iraqi politicians were unwilling to publicly champion a continued U.S. presence, even though most groups privately favored an extension of U.S. forces for training. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki wanted the support of Iraq’s other political groups before moving on an agreement, whereas other groups, like the Sadrist Trend, also sought to spoil an agreement.

After months of delay, Iraq’s various political factions agreed in early August to start formal negotiations on a troop presence, but the negotiations stalled over the question of immunities. U.S. negotiators maintained that the only way to secure immunities for U.S. troops was to have an agreement approved by Iraq’s parliament. Iraqis countered first that they didn’t need parliamentary approval but rather a memorandum of understanding; but in recent weeks, Iraqis said that American forces would have no immunities at all. The talks ceased.

The withdrawal of U.S. forces will make it harder to pursue its interests in Iraq and the region. U.S. forces played important roles not just in training the Iraqi forces and bolstering their professionalism, but in supporting diplomatic efforts, mediating tensions along the Arab-Kurd fault line, and countering Iranian influence. Despite the President’s call for an Iraq that is sovereign, stable, and representative, 2012 will likely see: the growing consolidation of power in the hands of the Prime Minister and an increasingly authoritarian government; a higher probability of Arab-Kurdish tensions that could spark an armed conflict; a more vulnerable and inactive diplomatic presence that is open to attacks from Iranian-backed Shi’a militants; and most importantly an Iraq that is less sovereign and less-friendly to the United States on account of growing Iranian influence.

Hillary Clinton Visits Pakistan to Urge Action against Taliban Militants

U.S. Secretary of the State Hillary Clinton landed in Islamabad on Thursday to deliver a tough warning to Pakistan to cut suspected ties with militant groups which have severely strained ties between the uneasy allies. Clinton, arriving from the Afghan capital, Kabul, went immediately to the U.S. embassy and then went to a dinner meeting attended by top U.S. and Pakistani military and civilian leaders. The heavyweight U.S. team, including new CIA director David Petraeus and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, was a clear sign that Washington is determined to get its message across. 

Then they met Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, who were expected to be joined by Pakistan's powerful army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, and Lieutenant-General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the head of the Inter-services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency which U.S. officials have singled out for its alleged support of militant groups.

          Hillary Clinton speaks with Pakistani MPs at the US embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. 

She said the US held one preliminary meeting with the Haqqani network "to see if they would show up,” and also she added to the Pakistani journalists that the Pakistani government officials helped to facilitate such a meeting." Mrs. Clinton said that the US had reached out to the Taliban and to the Haqqani network to test their sincerity and willingness to engage in a peace process and also Clinton warns Pakistan to cut suspected ties with militant groups. (The US military was furious about a Haqqani-directed truck bomb that injured 77 US soldiers, and a subsequent attack on the US embassy in Kabul.)

DETERMINED MESSAGE

U.S. officials had earlier said Clinton would seek to strike a constructive tone in discussions with Pakistani leaders, who have strongly denied backing insurgents and accused the United States of ignoring Pakistan's own interests in the battle against militants. But Clinton on Thursday took a clearly combative tone, saying Islamabad had a choice to make. "It is a time for clarity. It is a time for people to declare themselves as to how we are going to work together," she said.

The US has blamed the recent attack on Kabul's US embassy on the Haqqani network