Fluffy Visits Saudi Arabia - Gabriel Iglesias

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Fluffy Visits Saudi Arabia - Gabriel Iglesias

Obama Visits Immigration Hunger Strikers in Washington

President Barack Obama paid a visit Friday to hunger strikers calling for immigration reform, who are camped out on the National Mall near the US Capitol in Washington.

Accompanied by his wife, Michelle, the president stopped by the grassy esplanade several hundred yards from the White House, in a trip that was not mentioned in his official daily agenda.

“The president and the first lady are visiting individuals taking part in ‘Fast For Families’ on the National Mall and offer their support for those who are fasting on behalf of immigration reform,” said a White House official who asked for anonymity.

Journalists accompanying the couple were kept at a distance.

Since Nov. 12, the immigrant rights activists, who have set up a tent a stone’s throw from the Capitol building, have been on hunger strike, urging the House of Representatives to vote for an immigration reform measure already approved by the Senate.

The reform, which would bring one of Obama’s major 2008 and 2012 presidential campaign promises to fruition, was adopted by the Senate, dominated by Obama’s Democratic allies, on June 27.

The Senate plan, crafted and approved with Republican support, would give some 11 million people living illegally in the country US citizenship under strict conditions and after a minimum transitory 13-year period.

It would also strengthen the border with Mexico and reorganize the visa system to give priority to high-demand fields, including engineers and farm workers.

House Speaker John Boehner recently said he was willing to have the House consider such a measure, but in a piece-by-piece manner.

It’s an approach that Obama, speaking in San Francisco Monday, said would work “as long as all the pieces get done.”

In the House of Representatives, Republicans hold the majority, and are more hostile toward what some conservative critics see as “amnesty” for the millions of foreigners living illegally in the United States.

Boehner and his Republican Party are under heavy pressure ahead of 2016 presidential elections to improve their standing among Hispanic voters for whom immigration is a cherished political goal.

In 2012, 71 percent of Latino voters cast their ballot for Obama over his Republican opponent Mitt Romney.

© AFP 2013

Newsmax – America

Obama Visits Immigration Hunger Strikers in Washington

Biden visits immigration fasters on day 11

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden has visited a tent on the National Mall to show his support for immigration activists on the 11th day of a hunger strike.

In video released by the Service Employees International Union, Biden tells activists, quote, “We are going to win this.”

White House spokesman Jay Carney says Biden’s visit reflects President Barack Obama’s views. The White House says Biden prayed with the activists for immigration legislation and listened to why they’re fasting.

The group organizing the fast, Fast for Families, wants the House to vote on an immigration overhaul that’s already passed the Senate.

Biden and President Barack Obama have sought to keep a spotlight on that bill and the need to fix immigration laws even though the bipartisan Senate deal stalled in the House.

Associated Press

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Politics Headlines

Biden visits immigration fasters on day 11

Mike Myers visits Occupy Wall Street

"The Worm" Returns To North Korea; Rodman Visits Again

Enlarge image i

Former basketball star Dennis Rodman at Beijing Capital International Airport on Tuesday, before his flight to Pyongyang, North Korea.

Petar Kujundzic /Reuters /Landov

Former basketball star Dennis Rodman at Beijing Capital International Airport on Tuesday, before his flight to Pyongyang, North Korea.

Petar Kujundzic /Reuters /Landov

From the NPR Newscast: Anthony Kuhn reports on Dennis Rodman’s latest visit to North Korea

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman is visiting North Korea again, six months after spending time there with dictator Kim Jong Un — an “awesome” man, in Rodman’s opinion.

NPR’s Anthony Kuhn reports from Beijing that:

“Rodman was spotted transiting the Beijing airport en route to Pyongyang, sporting his characteristic lip and nose rings, plus green hair.

“He says he plans to hang out with Kim Jong Un, whom he has called his friend. … [Rodman also] said he was not going to try to free Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American tour guide and pastor.

“North Korea has freed several U.S. citizens it has detained in recent years, following visits by ex-presidents inclluding Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. North Korea had invited a U.S. envoy who could have negotiated for Bae’s release, but Pyongyang withdrew the invitation at the last minute.”

Bae, as Reuters reminds us, is “a Korean-American who had been working as a Christian missionary in China and North Korea [when he] was arrested in the northeast port city of Rason late last year. The North Korean supreme court said it sentenced him to 15 years of hard labor for plotting to overthrow the state. It said he had secretly brought ‘propaganda materials,’ including a National Geographic documentary on life in North Korea, into the isolated country.”

Though Rodman says he isn’t in North Korea to push for Bae’s freedom, he did say in May that he was “calling on the Supreme Leader of North Korea or as I call him ‘Kim’, to do me a solid and cut Kenneth Bae loose.”

What’s more, The Wall Street Journal notes that:

“As recently as last Thursday, Mr. Rodman was going on camera to tell whomever would listen that he’s hoping to rescue Mr. Bae, perhaps as part of his long-shot bid to win the Nobel Peace Prize. (See Friday’s video here, and fast-forward to 14:50 for the bit about North Korea.)

News

"The Worm" Returns To North Korea; Rodman Visits Again

US official visits senior Egypt Islamist in jail

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi pray outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi pray outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi chant slogans during a protest outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A supporter of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi wears a headband with Arabic writing reading ” No god but Allah and Mohammed is the prophet” while praying with fellow supporters outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi wear headbands with Arabic writing reading ” No god but Allah and Mohammed is the prophet” as they pray outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi wear headbands with Arabic writing reading ” No god but Allah and Mohammed is the prophet” as they pray outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

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CAIRO (AP) — A top U.S. diplomat met early on Monday a jailed senior leader in the Muslim Brotherhood, part of mediation efforts to end the standoff between Egypt’s military-backed government and protesters supporting the ousted president, government officials said.

They said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns met in prison with Khairat el-Shater, the powerful deputy head of the Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which deposed President Mohammed Morsi hails. Burns was accompanied by the foreign ministers of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as well as an EU envoy.

El-Shater is charged with complicity in the killing of anti-Morsi protesters.

Burns and the three other diplomats are in Egypt as part of international efforts to end a standoff between Mohammed Morsi’s supporters and the government installed by the military after it toppled the Islamist president in a July 3 coup.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The U.S. Embassy could not immediately be reached for comment.

More than a month after Morsi’s ouster, thousands of the Islamist leader’s supporters remain camped out in two key squares in Cairo demanding his reinstatement. Egypt’s military-backed interim leadership has issued a string of warnings for them to disperse or security forces will move in, setting the stage for a potential showdown.

Already, some 250 people have been killed in violence since Morsi’s ouster, including at least 130 in two major clashes between security forces and Morsi supporters on July 8 and on July 26 and early July 27.

The government officials did not say why Burns and the other diplomats visited el-Shater, who was widely believed along with the Brotherhood’s spiritual leader Mohammed Badie to be the source of real power during Morsi’s one year in power.

Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, has been held at an undisclosed location since his ouster. He was last week visited by the EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and a group of African elder statesmen. Ashton said he was well and had access to TV and newspapers.

Burns’ visit to el-Shater was authorized in advance by a prosecutor since he, Badie and four others are awaiting trial on charges related to the killing of eight protesters outside the Brotherhood’s Cairo headquarters hours after millions of Egyptians took to the streets on June 30 to demand Morsi’s ouster. The trial is set for Aug 25. Badie is in hiding.

In a brief statement, the Brotherhood said Morsi remained the legitimately elected president who should be spoken to and not anyone else. It did not however condemn the Burns visit.

The visit came after Egypt’s highest security body — the National Defense Council led by the interim president and includes top Cabinet ministers — announced that the timeframe for any negotiated resolution to the current standoff should be “defined and limited.”

It also called on the pro-Morsi protesters to abandon their sit-ins and join the political road map announced the day of the coup.

With the Islamist-backed constitution adopted last year suspended and the legislature dominated by Morsi’s supporters dissolved, the road map provides for a new or an amended constitution to be put to a national referendum later this year and presidential and parliamentary elections early in 2014.

Burns had extended his visit to Cairo by two days so he could have further talks with Egyptian leaders on Sunday and Monday. He met Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi, who led the July 3 coup, and the prime minister on Sunday.

The State Department said Burns discussed the importance of avoiding violence and fostering an inclusive process “that helps Egypt’s ongoing transition succeed” — another clear sign Washington has moved on from Morsi’s presidency.

Burns also met for a second time this weekend with an anti-coup delegation that included two Muslim Brotherhood figures. He requested the meetings and urged them to avoid violence, according to Nevine Malak, who attended both meetings with Burns as part of the anti-coup delegation.

Associated Press

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Top Headlines

US official visits senior Egypt Islamist in jail

US official visits senior Egypt Islamist in jail

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi pray outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi pray outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi chant slogans during a protest outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A supporter of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi wears a headband with Arabic writing reading ” No god but Allah and Mohammed is the prophet” while praying with fellow supporters outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi wear headbands with Arabic writing reading ” No god but Allah and Mohammed is the prophet” as they pray outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi wear headbands with Arabic writing reading ” No god but Allah and Mohammed is the prophet” as they pray outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Buy AP Photo Reprints

CAIRO (AP) — A top U.S. diplomat met early on Monday a jailed senior leader in the Muslim Brotherhood, part of mediation efforts to end the standoff between Egypt’s military-backed government and protesters supporting the ousted president, government officials said.

They said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns met in prison with Khairat el-Shater, the powerful deputy head of the Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which deposed President Mohammed Morsi hails. Burns was accompanied by the foreign ministers of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as well as an EU envoy.

El-Shater is charged with complicity in the killing of anti-Morsi protesters.

Burns and the three other diplomats are in Egypt as part of international efforts to end a standoff between Mohammed Morsi’s supporters and the government installed by the military after it toppled the Islamist president in a July 3 coup.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The U.S. Embassy could not immediately be reached for comment.

More than a month after Morsi’s ouster, thousands of the Islamist leader’s supporters remain camped out in two key squares in Cairo demanding his reinstatement. Egypt’s military-backed interim leadership has issued a string of warnings for them to disperse or security forces will move in, setting the stage for a potential showdown.

Already, some 250 people have been killed in violence since Morsi’s ouster, including at least 130 in two major clashes between security forces and Morsi supporters on July 8 and on July 26 and early July 27.

The government officials did not say why Burns and the other diplomats visited el-Shater, who was widely believed along with the Brotherhood’s spiritual leader Mohammed Badie to be the source of real power during Morsi’s one year in power.

Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, has been held at an undisclosed location since his ouster. He was last week visited by the EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and a group of African elder statesmen. Ashton said he was well and had access to TV and newspapers.

Burns’ visit to el-Shater was authorized in advance by a prosecutor since he, Badie and four others are awaiting trial on charges related to the killing of eight protesters outside the Brotherhood’s Cairo headquarters hours after millions of Egyptians took to the streets on June 30 to demand Morsi’s ouster. The trial is set for Aug 25. Badie is in hiding.

In a brief statement, the Brotherhood said Morsi remained the legitimately elected president who should be spoken to and not anyone else. It did not however condemn the Burns visit.

The visit came after Egypt’s highest security body — the National Defense Council led by the interim president and includes top Cabinet ministers — announced that the timeframe for any negotiated resolution to the current standoff should be “defined and limited.”

It also called on the pro-Morsi protesters to abandon their sit-ins and join the political road map announced the day of the coup.

With the Islamist-backed constitution adopted last year suspended and the legislature dominated by Morsi’s supporters dissolved, the road map provides for a new or an amended constitution to be put to a national referendum later this year and presidential and parliamentary elections early in 2014.

Burns had extended his visit to Cairo by two days so he could have further talks with Egyptian leaders on Sunday and Monday. He met Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi, who led the July 3 coup, and the prime minister on Sunday.

The State Department said Burns discussed the importance of avoiding violence and fostering an inclusive process “that helps Egypt’s ongoing transition succeed” — another clear sign Washington has moved on from Morsi’s presidency.

Burns also met for a second time this weekend with an anti-coup delegation that included two Muslim Brotherhood figures. He requested the meetings and urged them to avoid violence, according to Nevine Malak, who attended both meetings with Burns as part of the anti-coup delegation.

Associated Press

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Top Headlines

US official visits senior Egypt Islamist in jail

Egypt: US official visits senior Islamist in jail

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi pray outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi pray outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi chant slogans during a protest outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A supporter of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi wears a headband with Arabic writing reading ” No god but Allah and Mohammed is the prophet” while praying with fellow supporters outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi wear headbands with Arabic writing reading ” No god but Allah and Mohammed is the prophet” as they pray outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi wear headbands with Arabic writing reading ” No god but Allah and Mohammed is the prophet” as they pray outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Top Headlines

Egypt: US official visits senior Islamist in jail

Family visits ailing Nelson Mandela

He has been vulnerable to respiratory problems since contracting tuberculosis while imprisoned. | AP Photo

Nelson Mandela received visits from family members on Sunday at a hospital where the former president and anti-apartheid leader was being treated for a recurring lung infection, while South Africans expressed their appreciation for a man widely regarded as the father of the nation.

There was no official update on 94-year-old Mandela after his second night in the hospital. His condition was described as “serious but stable” on Saturday.

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The office of President Jacob Zuma had said that Mandela was taken to a Pretoria hospital after his condition deteriorated at around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday.

The anti-apartheid leader has now been taken to a hospital four times since December, with the last discharge coming on April 6 after doctors diagnosed him with pneumonia and drained fluid from his lung area.

Members of Mandela’s family on Sunday were seen visiting the Pretoria hospital where he is believed to be staying. They included Makaziwe Mandela, the eldest of the ex-leader’s three surviving children, and Ndileka Mandela, one of his 17 grandchildren.

Worshippers at a Sunday church service in the Johannesburg township of Soweto prayed for the recovery of Mandela, who was freed in 1990 after 27 years as a prisoner of white racist rule and won election to the presidency in all-race elections in 1994. He retired from public life years ago and had received medical care at his Johannesburg home until his latest transfer to a hospital.

At the Regina Mundi church in Soweto, Father Sebastian Rousso said Mandela, seen by many as a symbol of reconciliation for his peacemaking efforts, played a key role “not only for ourselves as South Africans, but for the world.”

There is a stained glass image of Mandela with arms raised in the Catholic church, a center of protests and funeral services for activists during the apartheid years.

“We still need him in our lives because he did so much for us,” said Mantsho Moralo, a receptionist who was in the congregation. Siyabonga Nyembe, a student, described Mandela as a “pillar of strength” for South Africans.

A stream of tourists visited Mandela’s former home, now a museum, on Vilakazi Street in Soweto. Visitors and vendors wished a quick recovery for the man whose sacrifices in the fight against apartheid made their lives better, even if South Africa today is struggling today with high unemployment and other severe challenges.

“He’s like one in a million. I don’t think we’re ever going to get a leader like him. We’re living the life that we have because of him and for that we wish him well,” said Seponono Kekana, who toured the brick, one-storey house.

On April 29, state television broadcast footage of a visit by Zuma and other leaders of the ruling African National Congress to Mandela’s home. Zuma said at the time that Mandela was in good shape, but the footage – the first public images of Mandela in nearly a year – showed him silent and unresponsive, even when Zuma tried to hold his hand.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been particularly vulnerable to respiratory problems since contracting tuberculosis during his long imprisonment. The bulk of that period was spent on Robben Island, an outpost off the coast of Cape Town where Mandela and other prisoners spent part of the time toiling in a stone quarry.

The Sunday Times, a South African newspaper, quoted Andrew Mlangeni, an old friend of Mandela, as saying he wished the former president would get better but noted his infirmity had become a drawn-out process. He said Mandela had been taken to the hospital “too many times” and that there was a possibility he would not be well again.

“The family must release him so that God may have his own way. They must release him spiritually and put their faith in the hands of God,” said Mlangeni, a co-defendant of Mandela in the 1960s trial on sabotage charges that led to a sentence of life imprisonment for them and other anti-apartheid leaders.

“Once the family releases him, the people of South Africa will follow. We will say thank you, God, you have given us this man, and we will release him too,” Mlangeni told the newspaper.

Nhlanhla Ngcobobo, a street vendor who works a few steps from the Mandela Family Restaurant next to the former leader’s old home, said the ailing Mandela was a kind of psychological anchor for his compatriots. South Africa has held peaceful elections since 1994 and remains an economic powerhouse on the continent, but many worry that the sense of promise that Mandela represented in the early years of democracy is in peril.

“There’s a lot of corruption and when Mandela dies, people will start feeling they can do what they like and corruption will be worse than it is,” Ngcobobo said. “By him being alive, there’s a lot more order.”

POLITICO – Congress

Family visits ailing Nelson Mandela

Obama visits Oklahoma town digging out after tornado

U.S. President Barack Obama waves as he walks to Marine One to depart for a day trip from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington May 26, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Joshua Roberts

Reuters: Top News

Obama visits Oklahoma town digging out after tornado

Germany"s Merkel visits Pope, urges tougher market controls

By James Mackenzie

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Pope Francis on Saturday and, apparently responding to his criticism of a heartless “dictatorship of the economy”, called for stronger regulation of financial markets.

On Thursday, Francis appealed in a speech for world financial reform, saying the global economic crisis had made life worse for millions in rich and poor countries.

Merkel visited Rome for a few hours specifically to meet the pontiff and spoke with him privately in his library for 45 minutes, unusually long for a private papal audience.

She told reporters afterwards that the scandals and excesses criticized by Francis earlier in the week showed that vital checks and balances had not been functioning properly.

“Crises have blown up because the rules of the social market have not been observed,” she said, adding that tightening financial market regulation would be a main objective of the meeting of leaders of Group of 20 economic powers in September.

“We have made progress but we are nowhere near a point where we could say that the kind of derailment that leads to market crises could not happen again and so the issue will again play a central role at the G20 meeting this year,” she said.

“It is true that economies are there to serve people and that has by no means always been the case in recent years.”

Merkel, the daughter of a Lutheran minister, said she and Francis had spoken mainly about globalization, the European Union and the role of Europe in the world.

“Pope Francis made it clear that we need a strong, fair Europe and I found the message very encouraging,” said Merkel, head of the Christian Democratic Union, which has a strong Catholic component.

In his first major speech about finance since his election in March, Francis had also urged states to take greater control of their economies and protect the weakest.

Merkel, who grew up in communist East Germany before the country was re-unified, said both she and Francis had “lived under dictatorships”, referring to the military junta that ruled the pope’s native Argentina from 1976 to 1983.

Merkel gave Francis, who lived briefly in Germany when he was a Jesuit priest, three volumes of poetry by Friedrich Hölderlin and 107 CDs of music by German conductor and composer Wilhelm Furtwaengler.

“I don’t know if you will have the time to listen to all of them,” she joked as she gave him the music.

(Additional reporting By Philip Pullella)

Economy News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Germany"s Merkel visits Pope, urges tougher market controls